by Jon Lee Anderson
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Product Description
This New York Times “Notable Book of the Year” is the definitive biography on Che Guevara, whose epic dream was to end poverty and injustice in Latin America through armed revolution. Anderson’s biography traces Che’s extraordinary life, from his comfortable Argentine upbringing to the Cuban revolution, from the halls of power in Castro’s government to his failed campaign in the Congo and assassination in the Bolivian jungle.
Amazon.com Review
Even to those without Marxist sympathies, Che Guevara (1928-67) was a dashing, charismatic figure: the asthmatic son of an aristocratic Argentine family whose sympathy for the world's oppressed turned him into a socialist revolutionary, the valued comrade-in-arms of Cuba's Fidel Castro and a leader of guerilla warfare in Latin America and Africa. Journalist Jon Lee Anderson's lengthy and absorbing portrait captures the complexities of international politics (revolutionary and counter); his painstaking research has unearthed a remarkable amount of new material, including information about Guevara's death at the hands of the Bolivian military.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 An Objective Biography, 2009-01-05
One must give Jon L. Anderson his props for the objectivity with which he approched the controversial character of Che. He uses a plethora of resources, many of which have never been seen before, to contruct an accurate picture of what occured during Che's life and the effect he has had on the world. The author sifts through and seperates the historical Guevara from the border-line mythical folkhero that has arisen in the decades since his untimely death. Mr. Anderson reveals the faults, beliefs, and character of Che from a new perspective. Definitely recommended for anyone interested in, well, I just recommend it for everyone. One of the best biographies I've read. It's up there with Will in the World, Caesar: Life of a Colossus, and Theodore Rex in quality.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
 Disturbing Propaganda, 2008-12-18
This is the most disturbing piece of propaganda biography I have ever read concerning the radical left elements in world society. The whole book by Anderson is written as an adoring look at one of the world's most aspiring murderers who is idolized by much of the world who know nothing more about him than as a quaint screen print for a T-Shirt. This book helps bolster this blind loyalty to the human epitomy of evi.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
More than a bio, 2008-12-04
My comments are in general alignment with the previous 130. This is not light reading; you will not finish it in a weekend; but your effort will be rewarded.
Not to be trite, but it reminds me of the Lord of The Rings. Laden with hundreds of characters and sub plots, it's much more than a simple biography. If you are looking for a quick read about Che, do not buy this book. However, I'm glad that I suffered though a few laborious sections and finished it. I'm a better person for it, and I strongly recommend it to those forewarned.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
superlative and always relevant, 2008-09-13
I read this book shortly before going into the Peace Corps in 2006 and with a curosity that, as I saw the book on numerous bookshelves all over the world, seemed to always be present. For "Che haters" you'll hear many comments usually with the word "communist" included. The fact is he was anything but a communist. For those more enlightened, he represents an idealism and theory as put forth in "A Theory of Justice" by John Rawls. Anderson does well to document the hatred Che had for capitalism and the destruction it brought to the people of Central and South America. Anderson documents with clarity and compassion the man Che sought to be and the intellect he brought to his efforts to improve the life's of people all over the world through his vision of what it meant to be "a citizen of the world". Unfortunately uppper middle class and elite power structure, El Che was destined to failure and execution. Anderson goes into great detail the events subsequent to the conference Che, along with Castro and Kruschev, in Algiers when Che broke ranks with the communist ideology once and for all. Unfortunately his comments and actions were more or less the deciding events that determined his eventual fate. If you're interested reading a book that dispels many of the myths of the man, allows you to understand clearly where he was coming from as a revolutionary and what he hoped to accomplish, take some time and read this carefully.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
 One of two essential biographies, 2008-08-27
For detailed insight on the dynamics of the Cuban Revolution, the historical context, the complexity of events on an international scale, and Fidel Castro's strategic and political wizardry, look no further. This book is by far the best.
However, in depicting Che's "world" so brilliantly, and by dedicating a third of the book to his youth before the Cuban revolution, Anderson has had to forsake many details and, sadly, some intimacy. "The enormous gesture that was [Che's] life" (to quote the famous song) remains an... incomprehensible gesture. For that extra touch of colour and a more intimate portrait, I would recommend Paco Ignacio Taibo's "Ernesto Guevara, also Known as Che" (published in the same year). Not only does Taibo focus on Che the revolutionary, but also writes, essentially, through his protagonist's own writing. To quote Taibo, "Che's own words... There is no way to approximate that narrative tone, that incredible sincerity, and that caustic sense of humour."
Whilst Anderson dedicates many pages to Ernesto Guevara's fascinating youth, Taibo quickly gets to the Cuban Revolution. Every phase of Che Guevara's life as a revolutionary, including his two ill-fated ventures abroad, is covered in greater depth. Taibo's biography undoubtedly lacks the "scoops" contained in Anderson's book, as well as the vividly-described (and vital!) context; however, it is less "macho", and it offers a more profound portrayal of Che Guevara the man and thinker.
One criticism I have regarding Anderson's book is that he opportunistically picks positive and negative points here and there in the name of "objectivity" (perhaps to make the book conveniently palatable to a wider - read "larger" - audience). In his selective choice of anecdotes he comes across as rather self-conscious and calculating. Conversely, Taibo (like Castaneda in "Companero", another well-known Che biography) writes more spontaneously: his objectivity is not contrived, and he is more interested in understanding Che Guevara, defects and all. But Taibo's book is by no means naïve or sentimental: he endeavours to portray Che Guevara as he would have been seen back then, rather than with today's condescending hindsight (which is what Anderson does).
Another criticism is that oddly, in Anderson's book, there seems to be an entire chunk missing on how the Cuban Missile crisis came about. Was it accidentally erased? And one passage bothered me; "Who was to blame for the shortages? The US trade embargo? The revolution's radicalization that caused the exodus of technicians and managers from the island? The incompetence of the revolution's leaders in attempting to convert a capitalist economy into a socialist one? Yes, all of these were contributing factors". Anderson, who otherwise dedicates so much time to the most intricate details, for some reason does not elaborate on this monumental statement.
Last but not least, the book has been poorly proofread. Spelling and syntax errors abound, some names are misspelled, and, in the final chapter, "Bolivia" has been mixed up with "Algeria". Given the high standard of writing, this is a terrible shame.
To conclude, both biographies are excellent, but only if both books are read. Without one another, they are flawed. Although the crucial details are similar, the authors' perspectives couldn't be more different. For this reason the books beautifully complement each other. Clearly, the many positive reviews for Anderson's book are based on the assumption that readers make that the autor has written "everything there is to know" about Che Guevara. This is not true of (and not possible in) any biography.
[For those interested in reading more, aside from Taibo's book, I would recommend Che Guevara's incredible Bolivian Diary. Castaneda's biography, "Companero" is wonderful: the author is an eminent historian and he provides a masterful analysis. The only pity is that it is less reader-friendly and should be read with some previous knowledge. The much-awaited "Evocacion" by Che's widow Aleida March has just been released (yet to be published in English) and I would recommend this mainly for the poignant farewell poem that Che wrote to her shortly before he died (I am sure his biographers would have loved to get their hands on this). A short but moving account written by Che - "La Piedra" (about his mother's death) - is now freely available on the internet.]
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