John Lawrence Tone

A concise, no-nonsense examination of the Cuban insurrection that provoked the Spanish-American War, with special emphasis on attaching accurate figures to the deep human suffering induced by this conflict. While not especially respectful of the Spanish officer class led by Valeriano Weyler, Tone emphasizes that the drive for total war existed on both sides, as the leadership of the Liberation Army was determined to bring about Spanish surrender on the basis of destruction of the Cuban economy and would tolerate no neutrality. The ultimate result being that Tone estimates that approximately 10% of the period Cuban population (out of 1,700,000 souls) died; the resulting carnage making it much easier for the American intervention to be converted into an extended occupation.… (more)