Book excerpt: As a whole, Cuban history, culture, and art are often misconstrued with a heritage specific to Havana. In Cuba's Wild East, Peter Hulme attempts to right this wrong, focusing on the eastern region of the island and the specific fictions, poetries, locations, and histories that constitute a specific eastern culture. Examining a region with a rich insurgent and revolutionary history, Peter Hulme examines the stories of rebellion, heroism, and sacrifice that are so intimately tied to the places and sites that have now become part of a national pantheon, at the same time showing the international influence of US journalists and novelists whose presence in Cuban literature alongside native Cuban writers further defines the region as a place of encounter.