A carefully researched and brilliantly written bookkkkk
Wayne S. Smith, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University, former chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana (1979–1982) David Engstrom's study of the Carter Administration's policies towards the Mariel boatlift of 1980 makes a significant contribution to research on this immigrant wave. ... Read moreThe author's access to newly declassified documents and extensive interviews in the Carter Library provides valuable data for this analysis.
Gaston A. Fernandez, Indiana State University
International Immigration Review, Vol. 32, No.2, 1998
Presidential Decision Making Adrift is meticulously researched and gives us a real understanding of an administration that did not but could have learned from Camarioca. Engstrom's account of the Carter administration's efforts is clear and compelling. Engstrom provides a worthy picture of a government faced with a crisis that carried important domestic and foreign relations implications. Theses first sections of his book contain important domestic and foreign relations implications. These first sections of his book contain important lessons for those who would seek, today, to avoid another Mariel. David Engstrom's book is a needed reference for all government officials who deal with the puzzle of Cuba.
Charles D. Weisselberg, University of California, Berkeley
Social Service Review
The Mariel boatlift was perceived by many, including policy makers, as an anomaly in U.S. immigration policy. David Engstrom demonstrates that in the context of U.S.-Cuba political relations since 1959, the boatlift was not unusual nor unprecedented. This meticulously researched and well- written study finally places Mariel in its proper historical context.
Felix MasudPiloto, De Paul University A carefully researched and brilliantly written book
Wayne S. Smith, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University, former chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana (1979–1982) Show Less