Publications
Dr. Luis Martínez-Fernández is a prolific, multiple-award-winning author. His books focus on diverse topics of the history of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.
He is also a nationally syndicated columnist who writes on contemporary issues, including politics, culture, and education.
NATIONALLY SYNDICATED COLUMNS
Creators Syndicate began distributing Dr. Martínez-Fernández's weekly columns in September 2020.
EARLIER COLUMNS
In 2019 and August 2020, Dr. Martínez-Fernández wrote regular opinion columns for The Globe Post.
The Puerto Ricans. Co-edited with Kal Wagenheim and Olga Jiménez de Wagenheim (Markus Wiener, 2020)
The Puerto Ricans. Co-edited with Kal Wagenheim and Olga Jiménez de Wagenheim (Markus Wiener, 2020)
The Puerto Ricans. Co-edited with Kal Wagenheim and Olga Jiménez de Wagenheim (Markus Wiener, 2020)
This volume brings together a stimulating collection of primary sources, newspaper articles, and scholarly essays that serve as windows to key chapters in the sweep of Puerto Rican history from the the pre-Columbian era to the convulsed present.
This updated and expanded 2020 edition includes a new chapter "Puerto Rico in Crisis" with over fifty pages of new materials selected and introduced by Luis Martínez-Fernández who also authored a new preface.
"An essential source book for a better understanding of the Puerto Ricans."
The New York Times
Key to the New World: A History of Early Colonial Cuba (University Press of Florida, 2018, 2019)
The Puerto Ricans. Co-edited with Kal Wagenheim and Olga Jiménez de Wagenheim (Markus Wiener, 2020)
The Puerto Ricans. Co-edited with Kal Wagenheim and Olga Jiménez de Wagenheim (Markus Wiener, 2020)
WINNER OF FLORIDA BOOK AWARDS 2018 BRONZE MEDAL FOR GENERAL NONFICTION
WINNER 2019 INTERNATIONAL LATINO BOOKS AWARD IN THE HISTORY CATEGORY
A holistic portrait of the island nation, interrelating its geography, society, politics, and culture. It weaves these threads into a narrative that begins with the first arrivals of indigenous inhabitants.
"A splendid work of historical craftsmanship."
Louis A. Pérez Jr.
Revolutionary Cuba: A History (University Press of Florida, 2014, 2016)
The Puerto Ricans. Co-edited with Kal Wagenheim and Olga Jiménez de Wagenheim (Markus Wiener, 2020)
Revolutionary Cuba: A History (University Press of Florida, 2014, 2016)
HONORABLE MENTION 2015 LATINO INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS (HISTORY)
A comprehensive, interpretative synthesis of the Cuban Revolution, from Batista's 1952 coup to the present.
"A remarkable achievement. The most comprehensive, synthetic, and systematic appraisal of the Cuban Revolution to date."
Jorge Duany
Frontiers, Plantations & Walled Cities (Markus Wiener, 2010)
Protestantism and Political Conflict in the Nineteenth-Century Hispanic Caribbean (Rutgers UP, 2002)
Revolutionary Cuba: A History (University Press of Florida, 2014, 2016)
Composed of seven pioneering articles and essays, this book provides key pieces to solving the puzzle of the Hispanic Caribbean's fascinating and convulsed history.
"This is a useful addition to comparative studies of the Caribbean and should provide food for thought for any student of the Caribbean."
Bulletin of Latin American Research
Protestantism and Political Conflict in the Nineteenth-Century Hispanic Caribbean (Rutgers UP, 2002)
Protestantism and Political Conflict in the Nineteenth-Century Hispanic Caribbean (Rutgers UP, 2002)
Protestantism and Political Conflict in the Nineteenth-Century Hispanic Caribbean (Rutgers UP, 2002)
A comparative study of the emergence of Protestantism in the nineteenth-century Hispanic Caribbean.
"[This] is a substantial study and is bound to become the standard source in the field."
H-Net Review
Fighting Slavery in the Caribbean (Routledge, 1998, 2014)
Protestantism and Political Conflict in the Nineteenth-Century Hispanic Caribbean (Rutgers UP, 2002)
Protestantism and Political Conflict in the Nineteenth-Century Hispanic Caribbean (Rutgers UP, 2002)
A study of culture and society in mid-nineteenth century Havana, including slavery and the slave trade, gender relations, and daily life.
"Luis Martínez-Fernández has the rare virtue of reconciling both the analytical incisiveness of a mature historian and the sweeping breath of an impassioned storyteller."
Antonio Benítez-Rojo
Torn between Empires (University of Georgia Press: 1994, 2013)
Encyclopedia of Cuba: People, History, Culture (Greenwood, 2003)
Encyclopedia of Cuba: People, History, Culture (Greenwood, 2003)
This in-depth comparative study focuses on the economy, society, and political cultures of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic in the middle decades of the nineteenth century.
"There exist few works as useful or as comprehensive as this study."
Louis A. Pérez Jr.
Encyclopedia of Cuba: People, History, Culture (Greenwood, 2003)
Encyclopedia of Cuba: People, History, Culture (Greenwood, 2003)
Encyclopedia of Cuba: People, History, Culture (Greenwood, 2003)
WINNER OF LIBRARY JOURNAL'S BEST REFERENCE
NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY'S BEST OF REFERENCE
BOOKLIST EDITORS" CHOICE
"The two-volume encyclopedia is an exhaustive source of information on Cuba with more than 700 entries from more than 80 internationally recognized experts." FOCUS
The Island of Cuba by Alexander von Humboldt (Markus Wiener, 2001)
Encyclopedia of Cuba: People, History, Culture (Greenwood, 2003)
The Island of Cuba by Alexander von Humboldt (Markus Wiener, 2001)
WINNER OF THE LYDIA CABRERA AWARD
Cubans celebrate Humboldt as the second “discoverer” of the island (after Columbus). The Spanish version of his book on Cuba was banned on the island, and J.S. Thrasher's 1854 English translation created an international controversy because of Thrasher’s open call for US annexation of Cuba and his purposeful deletion of a chapter in which Humboldt criticized slavery.
Luis Martínez-Fernández provides an introduction that contextualizes the publication history of Humboldt’s book.
CURRENT BOOK PROJECT
On the Road to Syndication: Essays and Op-Eds by Luis Martínez-Fernández is a collection of seventy-five essays, op-eds, and short research articles written for a broad audience of readers interested in history, culture, and society in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, migration to the US, and contemporary global issues.
This collection spans thirty-five years of observations, commentary, and analysis, beginning with a 1986 set of op-eds (originally appearing in Spanish in Puerto Rican newspapers) all the way to opinion and analysis essays published in the Globe Post and other venues during the Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020 on subjects such as the importance of history in times of crisis, the erosion of democracy, and the global consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the 2020 elections.