Close But No Cigar

A True Story of Prison Life in Castro's Cuba

Stephen Purvis

$26.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Weidenfeld & Nicolson
10 April 2018

Memoirs; Prisons; Marxism & Communism

WINNER OF THE CRIME WRITERS' ASSOCIATION GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION 2017

'In its tragic absurdity, CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR reads like a Graham Greene story, with a cast of characters to make Hemingway proud' Daily Telegraph

For over a decade Stephen Purvis had been a pillar of Havana's expat community, one of many foreign businessmen investing in Cuba's crawl from Cold War communism towards modernity. But for reasons unknown to him he was also under State Security's microscope. One morning during the height of President Raul Castro's purges in 2012, while his family slept, the unmarked Ladas of State Security arrived at his home and he was taken away into the absurd and brutal world of Cuban justice.

In this engrossing memoir, Purvis recounts his fifteen-month ordeal. Accused at first of selling state secrets, he is taken to the notorious interrogation centre Villa Marista, where he endures brutal conditions designed by the KGB and Stasi to break the bodies and minds of spies and political prisoners, and resists the paranoia and incompetence of his jailers. Later, held in a maximum-security prison, he finds himself surrounded by a motley crew of convicts: people-smugglers and drug-runners together with a handful of confused businessmen also awaiting formal charges.

From his arrest to his farcical secret trial and sudden release, Purvis exposes the madness of modern Cuba with wit, grit and a sharp eye for character. As tourists flock to Havana to marvel at a city frozen in time, he shows that despite reforms and international reconciliation the Castro regime remains a corrupt, dictatorial relic. CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR is part thriller, part comedy and part morality tale, but most of all a true story that takes the reader into a dark side of a sunny place that remains an enigma.

By: Stephen Purvis
Imprint: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 132mm, Width: 199mm, Spine: 19mm
Weight: 258g
ISBN: 9781474605069
ISBN 10: 1474605060
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 10 April 2018
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Stephen Purvis is a Wimbledon-born architect. In 2000 he moved with his wife and four young children to Havana, where his building projects included factories, luxury hotels and a container port. In his thirteen years in Cuba he became a longstanding director of the international school, enjoyed a spot of boxing and the odd cigar, took up painting and to the surprise of all co-produced with Sadler's Wells Theatre the hit dance show Havana Rakatan. He returned to Britain in 2013 and now works in Myanmar.

Reviews for Close But No Cigar: A True Story of Prison Life in Castro's Cuba

In its tragic absurdity, Close but No Cigar reads like a Graham Greene story, with a cast of characters to make Hemingway proud ... [This] tale should be read by anyone who wants to understand what lies beyond the beaches and Bacardi - DAILY TELEGRAPH An utterly mesmerising, sometimes grimly funny account of a year spent in a Cuban prison on trumped-up charges. Stephen Purvis has the gift of unshakeably transfixing the reader - Crime Time