Too often, books of history strive to distance themselves from the realm of exploration.

They present facts as if they are already known, or simply reflect a simplified and conventional method of referring to and summarizing competing schools of thought and a limited and digestible body of disputed evidence.

Such approaches lack the enriching quality that comes from evaluating details, penetrating complexity, and ultimately testing countless conflicting accounts.

It is pointless and, quite frankly, condescending when such authors (who are distinct from 'historians') attempt to embellish and divert the reader's attention from these fundamental processes of historical examination.

Jorge Castaneda has demonstrated in this work a loyalty to these central tenets of analysis.

He has made a truly remarkable contribution to 20th-century history.

It is challenging to find a book on the history of the early stages of the Cuban Revolution that is not blatantly favorable to a particular political entity or actor.

The same goes for Ernesto 'Che' Guevara.

While one of the least political yet most influential figures in this period of the Revolution, his contribution has left a mark that has endured far beyond his time as a driving force in Cuba and Latin America in the 1960s.

Castaneda's work is dedicated to an intense study of Guevara's life, but not through the lens of legacy - a refreshing approach.

His work is thorough, to say the least.

At times, its attempt to distill and distinguish what is known from what is assumed can be laborious.

However, this rigor is also its strength.

He shows a commitment to accepting complexity and presenting the reality of a highly contested life and era for the reader to draw their own conclusions.

The scope of his research is truly remarkable.

It draws on a vast review of literature on Guevara and the period in general, in both Spanish and English, and it collects and collates personal interviews and letters exchanged prior to the book's publication in 1997 with key figures from the period, as well as unpublished manuscripts and primary sources.

It also includes the results of a deep search of now declassified CIA, Soviet, Cuban, and Bolivian intelligence communication cables.

The extent of this research instills in the reader what I believe to be a crucial difference between a good work and an exemplary one: the need not to trust the author but rather the comfort of being able to gain a deeper understanding and form one's own informed opinion.

It expands the role of the reader from a passive recipient to an active participant in the analysis.

This is essential reading for those interested in or studying the Cuban Revolution, Cuban politics, the life of Che Guevara, or the geopolitical situation of Latin America during the Cold War.

He paints an insightful picture of the convoluted political landscape within the global Communist family and the Latin American left, made even more complex by the extensive involvement of the US through the CIA.

There is a passionate commitment to examining fact and fiction, providing a work that is aware of the mythology and has a sound understanding of how the myth came into being.

Castaneda's assessment presents a strong counterargument, highlighting the flaws in the myth and the political failure of Guevara's ideology and his revolutionary forays into Argentina, the Congo, and Bolivia.

Yet his work remains capable of sensitivity, understanding, and sympathy while maintaining honesty and the freedom to offer fierce and often acerbic criticism.

This book is truly remarkable.

I look forward to reading Castaneda's other works.

This historical book is truly interesting and well-written.

However, it shares the common trait of being a bit dry, similar to most historical tomes.

Despite this, it offers a wealth of knowledge. I delved deep into the details of his life, uncovering the complex web of motivations that drove politics during that era.

It also shed light on the factors that contributed to his large-scale idolization, for want of a more appropriate term.

The author's research is evident, presenting a comprehensive picture of the subject matter.

While the dryness may pose a challenge at times, the information gained makes it well worth the read.

It serves as a valuable resource for those interested in understanding the past and the forces that shaped it.

Overall, this book is a must-read for history enthusiasts looking to expand their knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of a particular period and its key figures.

Wow. If you have ever questioned why you see countless kids wearing Che's face, then read this book. It will make you still wonder what they are thinking.

Seriously.

Che's history is indeed a powerful one. However, whether it was for the good, bad, or indifferent - well, I've formed my opinion at least - thanks to this book.

The author does a great job in presenting the complex and controversial life of Che Guevara. The book delves into his early years, his revolutionary activities, and his lasting impact on the world.

One thing to note is that you can ignore the footnotes as they are not very helpful and only serve to confuse the reader.

Overall, this is a great book. It is well-written and really does a good job in explaining the far-reaching effects of Che's actions. It will make you think about the man and his ideology in a whole new light.

If you are interested in learning more about Che Guevara or the history of the Cuban Revolution, then this book is definitely worth a read.

Castaneda truly excels in both research and writing. His work presents a detailed and engaging account that enables the reader to embark on a journey of trying to connect with the times. It encourages individuals to form their own unique perspectives.

Putting politics aside for a moment, Che emerges as an extremely interesting and highly unusual character. His story is filled with adventure, passion, and a desire for change.

Castaneda's ability to bring Che's life and ideals to the forefront through his writing is remarkable. The book not only provides valuable insights into a specific era but also prompts readers to reflect on their own beliefs and values.

Overall, Castaneda's work is a testament to his talent as a researcher and writer, and it offers a captivating exploration of an important figure and a significant period in history.

Wonderfully written by Castaneda, this book has truly captured my attention.

I have always been deeply interested in Che's life, his views on communism, and his friendship with Castro. So far, I have been truly enjoying this book. The author initially portrays Che as a good person. However, as I delved deeper into the book, I discovered that Che himself executed people. This revelation made me reevaluate my perception of him.

Now that I have finished the book, I fully understand Che's legacy. My respect for him has indeed changed. He was a very intelligent and interesting person. His actions and beliefs had a significant impact on the world. Despite the controversial aspects of his life, Che remains an important figure in history.

This book has provided me with a more comprehensive understanding of Che and has made me思考 his place in the world. It has also made me realize that history is often complex and that we should not simply view historical figures in a one-sided way.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about Che and his impact on the world.

I've previously mentioned my struggle with biographies. By its very nature, a biography will introduce the biases and opinions of the author and reflect any limitations in their research.

This book is truly remarkable as it chronicles Che's entire life, from his privileged birth to his world-famous execution. It is well-researched, and it's clear that the author dedicated years to researching and writing this work. He has personally interacted with some of the most central figures in Che's life, and thus, this text holds great value as that opportunity may never be grasped again by any other biographer.

However, it was only after I completed the book and started looking up sources on the Internet that I uncovered a potential flaw in this biography.

The flaw lies in the author's portrayal of Che as somewhat hapless and naive, supported by his consistent depiction of Che as a "Christlike figure" who was betrayed by his closest aides. Many sources, even those ostensibly in support of Che Guevara, will admit that Che was extremely intelligent, calculating, and often ruthless in the pursuit of his ideals. For example, "Guevara exhibited great courage, skill in combat, and ruthlessness and soon became one of Castro’s ablest and most trusted aides. Guevara took responsibility for the execution of informers, insubordinates, deserters, and spies in the revolutionary army. He personally executed Eutimio Guerra, a suspected Batista informant, with a single shot from his.32 (7.65 mm) pistol." The rest of this article seems extremely fair and even reverent regarding Che's life story.

The author presents Che as an absolute victim in the Bolivian expedition and the events leading up to his death. However, even in his own Bolivian diary, Che acknowledged the increasing setbacks and failures, yet he did not present himself as an innocent victim.

I suppose the facts speak for themselves, but being aware of Che's intelligence and ruthlessness does not diminish his beliefs or accomplishments. Therefore, it wasn't entirely necessary for the author to try to soften his image. One thing the text does overlook, though, is the delicate chess game that Che engaged in during his fight for survival in both the Congo and Bolivia. He strategized and executed plan after plan to survive, even though it's evident that he made mistakes, relied on incorrect assumptions, was "betrayed" by desperate and defeated cadres, and was quite frankly abandoned by Castro.

Nevertheless, I wholeheartedly recommend this book, but I also suggest that it be complemented with a healthy dose of independent research.

This is truly one of the finest biographies that I have had the pleasure of reading.

Castaneda, the author, is an incredibly talented biographer. He approaches his subject with a remarkable sense of balance, painting a vivid and unbiased portrait of Che.

On one hand, he expresses his admiration for Che, highlighting his many admirable qualities and achievements.

Yet, on the other hand, he does not shy away from presenting the less flattering aspects of Che's political life.

This honesty and objectivity make the biography all the more engaging and thought-provoking.

It allows the reader to form a more complete and nuanced understanding of Che, warts and all.

Overall, I would highly recommend this biography to anyone interested in learning more about Che and his complex and fascinating life.

A magnificent book indeed!

Castaneda presents a rather unique perspective. He manages to be both quite critical of Che Guevara's politics and yet, at the same time, shows a certain degree of sympathy. It's a delicate balance that he achieves masterfully.

After reading this book, I truly feel that I have gained a deeper understanding of Guevara. His ideals, his actions, and the context in which he operated all come to life.

If you have an interest in Guevara himself, or in the history of Cuba, Latin America, third world revolutions, or even Cuba's complex relations with the U.S. and the Soviet Union, then this book is definitely for you. It offers a wealth of information and insights that will surely engage and enlighten you.

It's a must-read for anyone who wants to explore these fascinating topics in more depth.

The perfect introduction for a Che neophyte. It is academic in nature, yet highly accessible. What an extraordinary man of passion he was! He sacrificed everything for his noble cause. Through this work, I not only learned a great deal about Guevara himself but also about Castro, the complex Soviet-Sino conflict, the art of guerilla warfare, and the web of political intrigue that characterized the 1960s. The final chapter, in my opinion, was truly poignant. It accurately placed Che Guevara as a man of vision for the radicals of that era. His ideas and actions had a profound impact on the political and social landscape of the time. It is a testament to his enduring legacy that he continues to be a source of inspiration and debate even today.

Companero

Just finished reading Comanero. This is a biography of Ernesto (Che) Guevara. I was inspired to read a bio of Che after watching the musical Evita earlier this year where he serves as the foil. It dawned on me that I only had the vaguest memories of someone who became a revolutionary hero and died a few months before my fourteenth birthday, so I decided to educate myself.

The book was written in Spanish and translated to English which may account for some of its rougher spots. The author interviewed many of the main participants in Che’s life and I respect his scholarship. Here’s what I learned:

Che was born in Argentina and grew up there. The author covers Che’s childhood in excruciating detail. Ultimately, I found we shared a lot in common – asthmatic, philandering father who was not discreet about his affairs, a charismatic personality, and ultimately a fascination and identification with the political left.

Che studied medicine and became a medical doctor, hoping to find a cure for his own asthma. It plagues him his entire life.

Che and friends took several lengthy road trips through Latin America in his early twenties. It almost reads like Kerouac Does Latin America. Coincidentally, Guevara and Kerouac were doing their road trips in the same time frame – circa 1950. These trips were formative in developing his political consciousness.

He seemed to show up wherever a revolution was happening. Bolivia in the early fifties where agrarian reform was giving land to the majority Indian population. Che was waiting for a meeting with the Minister of Indian Affairs along with some Indian friends and is astounded when aids walk through spraying the Indians with DDT. The minister didn’t want to get fleas and after Che protested, he was told it was most unfortunate, but the Indians were not acquainted with soap.

Next stop is Guatemala where the Arbenz revolution is going on. Arbenz was peacefully and democratically elected president of Guatemala. Although he is no left-wing firebrand, he manages to get on the wrong side of United Fruit and the US government by proposing extension of workers rights and some internal development projects that would include a road that cuts through United Fruit’s land. Horrors! It doesn’t take long for the CIA to mount an invasion from Honduras and oust Arbenz. Not the first time the CIA pulls this little trick, and Che witnesses it all. Che develops revolutionary fever, but ultimately is uninvolved in the outcome. The new government begins rounding up leftists, and Che seeks refuge in the Argentine embassy for a couple of months until he is given free passage to Mexico.

It is in Mexico City in 1955 that he meets Fidel Castro. Che was one of a pathetically small group that invades Cuba aboard the leaking ship Granma late in 1956. The landing is botched and most are killed or captured by Batista’s army. Only a dozen or so survive and make it to the Sierra Maestre mountains in southwest Cuba. Che very quickly has to make a decision – is he a doctor or a guerilla. He leaves his medical bag behind and picks up a gun.

Batista is thoroughly hated in Cuba, and after a few minor victories, support for the guerillas swells. Over the next two years, they are able to push their way out of the mountains toward the center of Cuba. Fidel divides his ragtag army into two divisions, one commanded by his brother Raul, the other by Che.

Che leads his division into the biggest battle of the revolution at Santa Clara. First he derails and captures a train Batista has sent that is full of arms. He has developed an odd habit of robbing the banks in the towns he captures, and he is criticized for this. This peculiar practice pays off, however, when he is able to bribe the opposing commander into surrendering a force many times larger than his own. There is nothing between the guerillas and Havana. Batista flees New Years Eve in 1958.

I won’t bore you with the economics of the revolution. I would like to point out that Fidel was NOT a communist at the beginning of the revolution, although Guevara identified with them early on. Persistent US hostility drove the revolution to the communists. (The enemy of my enemy is my friend.)

There is one funny story about how Che became the head of the national bank of Cuba. Fidel has gathered all of his main advisers together in one room. He asks, “Is anyone in this room an economist?” Only the medical doctor Che raises his hand. Later, he tells friends he thought Fidel had asked, “Is anyone in this room a communist?”

Che’s politics evolved over his brief life. Although he was always a communist, anyone familiar with the left knows there are many varieties and he bounced around all of them. Che originally considered himself a Stalinist until he got to know the Russians better. He identified with Maoism, and its emphasis on rural guerrilla warfare. At times and tried to reconcile the Soviet Union and China only to be treated with suspicion by both. He was accused of being Trotskyist because he believed in spreading the revolution to other countries. Ultimately, his political thoughts always seemed to be in flux and he tended to learn the wrong lessons from his mistakes. At heart, he wanted to be a guerilla fighter.

He was in charge of Cuba’s economy for the first five years or so of the revolution, and between his incompetence and the American embargo, drove it into the ground. His heart wasn’t into financial management anyway. He represented Cuba internationally at a smorgasbord of countries including the UN. Finally, in 1965, he goes to the Congo with a few Cubans to help lead their revolution.

He is bitterly disappointed. The Congolese “revolutionaries” cannot maintain disciple and drop their weapons and flee at the first sound of gunfire. Their leaders refuse to go to the front. The Chinese and the Russians are squabbling over how much aid to provide and whether to support the African revolutionaries. Che is racked with asthma and other illnesses. He finally has to admit defeat.

It takes him almost a year to recover his health. Late in 1966, he is busy planning his next adventure: Bolivia. Fidel knew he couldn’t stay in Cuba and Bolivia seemed the best place for him to go – right next to his native Argentina.

The mission is poorly planned and executed. The Bolivian Communist party is opposed to the insertion of dozens of Cubans to foment a guerilla war. Poor intelligence had overlooked the basic patriotism of the Bolivian peasantry which rightly viewed the Cubans as invaders. There had been major agrarian reform in Bolivia fifteen years earlier, and the peasants wanted to hang on to their small parcels and had no interest in collectivization. When the Cubans would capture a village, they would set up a clinic to tend to their medical and dental needs. The minute they left, someone would run off to inform the army where the guerillas were.

After a few initial military successes, the Bolivian army and government panicked, but the US and CIA stiffened their resolve. After escaping an engagement with the army, Che splits his tiny group in two and they approach the rendezvous point from different directions. The second group is machine-gunned as they are crossing a river, and all are killed including Che’s mistress Tania. Weeks later, the handful of survivors are trapped in a ravine. Che is wounded and captured.

Che believes he has too high profile and is worth more alive than dead. The Bolivians disagree and execute him.

Although Che becomes an international icon the following year as student uprisings occur, globally, his actual accomplishments are thin. He did play a major role in securing the victory of the Cuban Revolution, but he failed on the global stage both diplomatically and militarily.

Ultimately, his politics were always changing and confused. He was primarily an adventurer who loved guerilla warfare and died doing what he loved.

Walking away from this book, I have achieved what I was hoping for - a comprehensive understanding of who Che Guevara was, precisely what he did, and why he endures as such an iconic revolutionary. The portrait painted by Castañeda is both compassionate and balanced. It delves into his virtues and flaws, examining the events that molded him, from his childhood to his wandering twenties and the fateful day he met Fidel Castro, which forever altered the course of his life.

He was truly touched by the plight of the poor and marginalized. Through his early travels, he developed a resentment towards the unjust geopolitical status quo, such as colonialist powers. His chance encounter with Castro and the Cuban revolutionary mission gave him the opportunity to witness firsthand how the actions of a small, passionate group could overcome seemingly unassailable power structures. Their success emboldened him to take on the world, believing that with his experience and unwavering willpower, he could replicate those results.

However, his greatest strength - his unwavering idealism - was also his Achilles heel. It often blinded him to the true complexity of politics, human nature, and the world. As a result, he was repeatedly disillusioned by his failed attempts to create the social and political utopia he envisioned. Nevertheless, the remarkable aspect of his character is that, despite everything, he never ceased to believe in and fight for a world that had never before existed, right up until his death.

Castañeda attributes the strength of Che's larger-than-life legacy to a perfect alchemy created by the timing of his life and death, as well as the cultural explosion of the late sixties that followed. This era was marked by mass upheavals and a young generation's rejection of the status quo in search of radical change worldwide. To a discontented generation, his death symbolized unwavering commitment to one's convictions and self-sacrifice for a higher good, which deeply resonated. Although both movements ultimately faded before achieving their goals, they left a lasting cultural impact that persists to this day.

This book did take me a considerable amount of time to read. It's evident that Castañeda is a political science professor, as the research is meticulous and the details are abundant. The text is dense with dates, names, facts, footnotes, and more. Written in the mid-90s, the author draws on a wealth of resources, including old archives, letters, personal interviews, declassified government records, and previously published biographies. He takes great care to uncover the truth and correct previous misconceptions. In cases where the true facts are uncertain, he acknowledges conflicting statements from various sources and presents the most likely theories for the reader to consider based on the available evidence. His aim is not to glorify Che but to understand him.

There may be more accessible biographies out there, but I'm glad I chose to read this one.

This remarkable book embarks you on an incredibly long journey that delves deep into the astonishingly short life of El Commandante.

Personally, I usually encounter difficulties when it comes to reading biographies. However, this particular one held my attention throughout the entire year it took me to complete it, and I relished every single moment of it.

Castañeda dedicated a significant amount of time and effort to conducting thorough research and painstakingly digging through archives. He is well-versed in other biographies and their respective methodologies and findings. As a result, he frequently compares his interpretations with those of others, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. It is evident that he is extremely knowledgeable about the entire topic, and he always clearly distinguishes his own judgments, ensuring that facts are never confused with myths and lies.

In conclusion, this is truly a great book, a testament to the author's outstanding work.

German below
Dieses bemerkenswerte Buch nimmt dich mit auf eine unglaublich lange Reise, die tief in das erstaunlich kurze Leben von El Commandante eindringt.

Persönlich habe ich es normalerweise schwer, Biografien zu lesen. Allerdings hielt mich dieses besondere Buch während des ganzen Jahres, in dem ich es zu Ende zu lesen hatte, gefesselt, und ich genoss jeden einzelnen Moment davon.

Castañeda widmete eine beträchtliche Menge an Zeit und Anstrengung der Durchführung gründlicher Recherchen und dem mühsamen Durchstöbern von Archiven. Er ist gut vertraut mit anderen Biografien und ihren jeweiligen Methoden und Erkenntnissen. Daher vergleicht er seine Interpretationen häufig mit denen anderer, was auf ein umfassendes Verständnis des Themenbereichs hinweist. Es ist offensichtlich, dass er über das gesamte Thema extrem gut informiert ist, und er kennzeichnet stets seine eigenen Urteile klar, um sicherzustellen, dass Fakten niemals mit Mythen und Lügen verwechselt werden.

Insgesamt handelt es sich um ein wirklich großartiges Buch, ein Beweis für die herausragende Arbeit des Autors.