Bolivar : American Liberator

by Arana, Marie

• ISBN13: 9781439110195
• ISBN10: 1439110190
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-04-09
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary

A sweeping narrative worthy of a Hollywood epic, this is the authoritative biography of the warrior-statesman who was the greatest figure in Latin American history. A larger-than-life figure from a tumultuous age, Simon Bolivar ignited a revolution, liberated six countries from Spanish rule and is revered as South America's George Washington. Bolivia was named after him; the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela still basks in his glory. And yet he remains little known to North American readers, in part because there has been no first-rate popular biography of the Great Liberatoruntil now. 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 Bolivar. 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 his battlefield victories to his ill-fated brief marriage and legendary love affairs, Bolivar emerges as a man of many facets: fearless general, brilliant strategist, consummate diplomat, passionate abolitionist, and gifted writer. A major work of history, Bolivarcolorfully portrays a dramatic life even as it explains the rivalries and complications that bedeviled Bolivar's tragic last days.