The author, Oscar A. Echevarria Salvat, graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Villanueva (Havana) and Georgetown University (Washington DC) where he was also a professor. He organized the survey the Agrupacion Catolica Universitaria (ACU) conducted on the peasant Cuban population of 1957, which was very revealing although usually cited by other sources in a biased and inaccurate manner. This book, whose first edition was published in 1971, makes a very complete and professional analysis of the social situation, productivity and standard of living of the Cuban agricultural sector.