Che Guevara

Decades ago, in the wilds of southeastern Bolivia, the life of Ernesto Guevara de la Serna came to a sudden, inglorious end. An unquenchable myth was born. To this day, the mere mention of "Che" summons up a mental picture of the bearded revolutionary leader who was deeply & directly involved in the upheavals in Latin America & Africa during the '50s & '60s. From his inclusion of such unique material as Che's teenage love letters to his detailed review of archives in the former USSR & elsewhere, Castaneda provides the most balanced & thoro account of Che's personal & political endeavors-neither a whitewash nor an excoriation, but biography at its best. He places each stage of Che's career in its social, cultural & political context. He tackles questions that are crucial to understanding the entire Socialist Did the Soviets help or betray Che in the Congo & Bolivia? Did Fidel Castro wish him well or hope for his demise? Perhaps most compelling of all, how did a blue-blooded, asthmatic doctor from Argentina transcend ideology & politics to become the icon known as Che?AcknowledgmentsPrologueChildhood, youth & asthma in ArgentinaYears of love & indifference in Buenos medical school, Péron & ChichinaFirst navigating is necessary, living is notUnder fire with FidelOur man in HavanaThe "brain of the revolution"; the scion of the Soviet Union"Socialism must live, it isn't worth dying beautifully"With Fidel, neither marriage nor divorceChe Guevara's heart of darknessBetrayed by whom in Bolivia?Death & resurrectionNotesIndex