The Story of Che Guevara

Author/Guide: Lucia Alvarez de Toledo

Why a Booktrail?

1928, 1952, 1967: The story of the man behind the myth

ISBN: 978-1849160407
Genre: Biography/memoirs

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What you need to know before your trail

Che Guevara is something of a symbol in the West. But for the rest of the world he is different: a charismatic revolutionary who redrew the political map of Latin America and gave hope to those resisting colonialism everywhere. In The Story of Che Guevara Lucía Álvarez de Toledo follows Che from his birth in Rosario and his early years in his parent’s maté plantation, to his immortal motorcycle journeys across South America, his role at the heart of Castro’s new Cuban government, and through to the unforgiving jungle that formed the backdrop to his doomed campaigns in the Congo and Bolivia.

Based on interviews with Che’s family and those who knew him intimately, this is an accessible biography that concentrates on the man rather than the icon.

Locations

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Argentina
A: Rosario - Che's birthplace

Mexico
D: Veracruz - Túxpam

Bolivia
E: Rio Grande

Travel Guide

Travel Booktrail style through the life and locations of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro

Ernesto “Che” Guevara was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, guerrilla leader, and was also a keen traveller and author. He was a major figure of the Cuban Revolution.

As a young medical student, Guevara travelled throughout South America and was radicalized by the poverty, hunger and disease he saw whilst on his travels. He wanted to help reverse the USA’s capitalist exploitation of Latin America. In Mexico City, Guevara met Raúl and Fidel Castro, joined their 26th of July Movement and sailed to Cuba aboard the yacht Granma with the aim of overthrowing the U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Following the Cuban Revolution, Guevara performed a number of key roles in the new government. He played a central role in training the militia forces who repelled the Bay of Pigs Invasion and bringing Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles to Cuba, which precipitated the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Guevara remains both a revered and reviled historical figure. His face has been used on posters and in campaigns as a revolutionary figure for the dispossesed across the world.