A former public school teacher, DENISE F. BLUM is an Assistant Professor in Social Foundations at Oklahoma State University.

"Professor Blum has written a sound, balanced and informative book. It is well organized, comprehensive in the treatment of the new man ideology, and clearly written. It is jargon free, and the conclusions are reasonable and well grounded in either her observations or the literature... The book should be required reading for academics and others studying Cuba. Policy makers and journalists should also be readers if they want to gain more than a superficial understanding of Cuba, its educational history and developments. General readers will also find it is a valuable book for learning about Cuba... I recommend the book without reservation."