Bolívar: American LiberatorThis biography of the great Latin American revolutionary reveals the man behind the legend—“magisterial in scope . . . a monumental achievement” (The Washington Post Book World). Simón Bolívar 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. 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 died 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. 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. |
Contents
Epigraph Maps | |
Photographs | |
The Road to Bogotá | |
Rites of Passage | |
The Innocent Abroad | |
Building a Revolution | |
The Rise and Fall of Miranda | |
Glimpses of Glory | |
The Chosen | |
Under the Volcanoes | |
In the Empire of the | |
The Equilibrium of the Universe | |
Era of Blunders | |
The General in His Labyrinth | |
The Legions of Hell | |
A Revolution Struggles to Life | |
The Hard Way West | |
The Way to Glory | |
Epilogue | |
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Common terms and phrases
Angostura Argentina army arrived battle began Bermúdez Bogotá Briceño Méndez British Caracas Carlos Cartagena Cartas Catálogo Colombia Colonel colonies command congress Córdova Creoles Crónica Cúcuta Díaz Documentos Ducoudray emancipación enemy force Francisco de Miranda Glory and Bolívar Granada Greater Colombia Guaira Guayaquil Historia Humboldt Ibid José Juan Vicente July June king La Guaira Larrazábal Lecuna letter Liberator Liberator's Libertador Liévano Aguirre Lima Madariaga Madrid Manuela Sáenz March María Mariño Masur Miranda Monteverde Montilla Morillo Mosquera Napoleon nation O'LB O'Leary officers Páez Páez's Palacios patriot Peru Peruvian pesos Piar Polanco Alcántara Popayán Posada Gutiérrez president Puerto Cabello Quito quoted republic republican Restrepo revolution Rodríguez royalists San Martín SB to Briceño SB to Santander SB to Urdaneta SB's Sept ship Simón Bolívar Simón Rodríguez slaves soldiers Soublette Spain Spaniards Spanish Sucre thousand Torre troops Trujillo Venezuela victory Vida wanted wrote