Back Channel to Cuba

William M. LeoGrande, professor of government at American University, is the author of Our Own Backyard: The United States in Central America, 1977-1992, among other books.
For more information about William M. LeoGrande, visit the Author Page.

Peter Kornbluh, director of the Cuba Documentation Project at the National Security Archive in Washington, D.C., is the author of The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability, among other books.
For more information about Peter Kornbluh, visit the Author Page.

"A fascinating and thorough intellectual introduction to the [December 2014 Obama-Castro] accords. . . . The book makes it clear that, during the long period of the Cuban–Soviet alliance, an agreement was practically impossible, though the history of attempts reads like a James Bond novel."—New York Review of Books

"Challenging the prevailing narrative of U.S.-Cuba relations, this book investigates the history of the secret, and often surprising, dialogue between Washington and Havana. . . . Suggest[s] that the past holds lessons for future negotiators."—New Yorker

"LeoGrande and Kornbluh's exhaustive and masterful diplomatic history will stand as the most authoritative account of U.S.-Cuban diplomatic relations during the five decades of Cuban President Fidel Castro's rule."—Foreign Affairs

"Told in clear prose, this richly detailed book underscores how diplomacy makes headlines, but many exchanges happen far from official negotiation tables."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A tour de force, Back Channel to Cuba never simplifies the complexity of the post-Revolution relationship between the United States and Cuba. The authors' virtuosity and enthusiastic vigor is reminiscent of John Le Carré as a political moralist while adhering to exacting scholarly standards."—American Conservative

“Masterful. . . . A multifaceted contribution to our understanding of why the U.S.-Cuban relationship remained hostile for so long.”—Political Science Quarterly