Vintage photos from one of the largest archives of Cuban photography in the world capture the island’s history.

The enduring fascination of Cuba intensifies as the island once again becomes a seductive travel destination. From Ramiro Fernandez, whose collection of Cuban photography and ephemera is one of the largest outside of the island nation, comes a dazzling array of images of Cuban life, lifestyle, glamour, customs, and struggle from the nineteenth century to the Revolution.

From the earliest daguerreotypes to glamorous shots of movie stars, the country’s history is represented by a rich spectrum of personalities: race-car driving aristocrats, sultry showgirls, gangsters, everyday folk, and revolutionaries who would soon transform the nation. Rare images are showcased: a portrait of Castro as a schoolboy, a bare-chested Che Guevara, and Heinz Luning, the only Nazi spy executed in Latin America during World War II (and the unwitting inspiration for Graham Greene’s Our Man in Havana).

With nearly 300 exceptional images and a foreword and poetry by Richard Blanco, the poet selected for President Obama’s second inauguration, this is a multifaceted look at Cuba, then.