John S. Sledge is senior architectural historian for the Mobile Historic Development Commission and a member of the National Book Critics Circle. His previous books include The Mobile River and The Gulf of Mexico: A Maritime History . Alicia E. García-Santana is a Cuban architectural historian with an interest in historic preservation. She has taught widely in the Caribbean and Latin America and is the author of numerous books, including Las primeras villas de Cuba and Los modelos españoles de la casa Cubana . Chip Cooper is artist-in-residence at the University of Alabama Honors College. His photography books include Old Havana: Spirit of the Living City/La Habana Vieja: El espíritu de la ciudad viva and Campesinos: Inside the Soul of Cuba .

Julio A. Larramendi is a research associate for the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Cuba, a professor and visiting artist-in-residence at the University of Alabama Honors College, and the editorial director of Ediciones Polymita.