Name: Bolivar
ISBN: 9781439110195

Marie Arana

An authoritative portrait of the Latin-American warrior-statesman examines his life against a backdrop of the tensions of nineteenth-century South America, covering his achievements as a strategist, abolitionist, and diplomat.

American Liberator

Bolivar

Wynn Netherland

Of all the biographies I have read, I can't remember one that I enjoyed nearly as much as Bolívar: American Liberator. Immersive as it is expansive, it's narrative non-fiction at its best. While perhaps slightly too generous to her subject at times, Arana tells the story of how Bolívar became the Liberator of six South American countries, driven by a vision of a unified America freed from Spain. Through her thorough research, she captures the people and settings in Bolívar's life in incredible detail. Her main conclusion, that his failure to translate his military acumen to the political sphere set the stage for the next two centuries of South American politics, makes it a relevant read.

Monicap

Anas A

It is astonishing that Simón Bolívar, the great Liberator of South America, is not better known in the United States. He freed six countries from Spanish rule, traveled more than 75,000 miles on horseback to do so, and became the greatest figure in Latin American history. His life is epic, heroic, straight out of Hollywood: he fought battle after battle in punishing terrain, forged uncertain coalitions of competing forces and races, lost his beautiful wife soon after they married and never remarried (although he did have a succession of mistresses, including one who held up the revolution and another who saved his life), and he died relatively young, uncertain whether his achievements would endure. Drawing on a wealth of primary documents, novelist and journalist Marie Arana brilliantly captures early nineteenth-century South America and the explosive tensions that helped revolutionize Bolívar. In 1813 he launched a campaign for the independence of Colombia and Venezuela, commencing a dazzling career that would take him across the rugged terrain of South America, from Amazon jungles to the Andes mountains. From his battlefield victories to his ill-fated marriage and legendary love affairs, Bolívar emerges as a man of many facets: fearless general, brilliant strategist, consummate diplomat, passionate abolitionist, gifted writer, and flawed politician. A major work of history, Bolívar colorfully portrays a dramatic life even as it explains the rivalries and complications that bedeviled Bolívar’s tragic last days. It is also a stirring declaration of what it means to be a South American.

Bolivar American Liberator

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