Information concerning the island of Cuba was exceedingly unsatisfactory character until the search-light of American inquiry was thrown upon it from the beginning of the war for Cuban liberty early in 1895. Although our next-door neighbor to the south, with a perfect winter climate and a host of interesting and picturesque attractions for travelers, tourists had been comparatively few, measured by the numbers that might have been expected. All of the reasons for this were those which naturally followed the characteristic Spanish rule of the island. Publicity was not welcomed, inquiry was not welcomed, travelers were not welcomed. The cities and the accommodations they offered were in many ways far behind those of like age and size in the other countries of the globe. Railway construction and the making of highways had lagged disgracefully, because the exorbitant taxes collected were looted by the officers of the government as their own spoils. No other country so near to the highways of ocean commerce and so accessible from the United States was so little known.

Table of Contents:
Preface; A War for Liberty and Humanity; How Columbus Found the "Pearl of the Antilles"; Spain's Black Historical Record; Buccaneering in the Spanish Main; Commercial Development of Cuba; Beauties of a Tropical Island; Wealth from Nature's Store in the Forest and Fields of Cuba; The Cubans and How They Live; Havana, the Island Metropolis; The Cities of Cuba; Mutterings of Insurrection; Outbreak of the Ten Years' War; Massacre of the Virginius Officers and Crew; Operations of the Ten Years' War; The Peace of Zanjon and Its Violated Pledges; Preparations for Another Rebellion; The Cuban Junta and Its Work; Key West and the Cubans; Another Stroke for Freedom; Jose Marti and Other Cuban Heroes; Desperate Battles with Machete and Rifle; Filibusters from Florida; Weyler the Butcher; Cuba Under the Scourge; Fitzhugh Lee to the Front; Americans in Spanish Dungeons; Maceo Dead by Treachery; Weyler's Reconcentration Policy and Its Horrors; American Indignation Growing; Outrages on Americans in Cuba; McKinley Succeeds Cleveland; The Case of Evangelina Cisneros; Work of Clara Barton and the Red Cross; The Catastrophe to the Maine; Patience at the Vanishing Point; Events in the American Congress; President McKinley Acts; Strength of the Opposing Squadron and Armies; Battleships and Troops Begin to Move; Diplomatic Relations Terminate; First Guns and First Prizes of the War; Declaration of War; Call for the National Guard, Our Citizen Soldiery; Blockade of Cuban Ports; Spanish Dissensions at Home; The Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Other Colonies of Spain; Progress of Hostilities; Sea Fight off Manila, Americans Victorious; Hawaii, and Our Annexation Policy; Continued Success for American Soldiers and Sailors; The Invasion of Puerto Rico; The Surrender of Manila; Victorious Close of the War; Personal Reminiscences; Index.