Synopses & Reviews
Ernesto "Che" Guevara was one of the greatest exemplars of the revolutionary 1960s, an essential player in the Cuban Revolution whose legend fired the imaginations of a whole generation. In 1965, amid worldwide conjecture, Guevara left Cuba, where he was a minister in Fidel Castro's post-revolutionary government and traveled incognito to the heart of Africa. People's hero Patrice Lumumba had been assassinated, and Guevara was sent to put his theories of guerilla warfare into use, helping the oppressed people of the Congo throw off the yoke of Western imperialism. The first task was to assist the young Laurent Kabila in his struggle against Mobutu and Tshombe, the two key figures in the newly independent nation.
For the first time, The African Dream collects Guevara's unabridged journals of the expedition. They are the record of the bitter failure of a political and ideological dream and provide telling background to Kabila's late-1990s rise and his death in 2001. Most of all, the diaries afford the reader a very personal insight into the thoughts and emotions of Che Guevara, the twentieth century's great revolutionary martyr.
Review
"The full story of the African adventure was a closely guarded Cuban state secret for over thirty years and it's not hard to see why....Compelling." Sunday Tribune
Review
"A well-written account of a region still embroiled in wars. It is the balance-sheet of a disaster." The Times, London
Synopsis
Ernesto Che Guevara was one of the greatest exemplars of the revolutionary 1960s, a man whose heroic adventures were essential to the success of the Cuban Revolution and whose legend fired the imaginations of a whole generation. In 1965, amid worldwide conjecture, Guevara left Cuba, where he was a minister in Fidel Castro's postrevolutionary government, and traveled incognito to the heart of Africa. People's hero Patrice Lumumba had recently been assassinated, and Guevara was to put his theories of guerrilla warfare to use helping the oppressed people of the Congo throw off the yoke of colonial imperialism. The first task was to assist the young Laurent Kabila in his struggle against Mobutu and Tshombe, the two key figures in the newly independent nation. For the first time, The African Dream collects Guevara's unabridged journals of the expedition. They are the record of the bitter failure of a political and ideological dream, and a telling complement to the subsequent rise of Kabila and his recent demise. Most of all, the diaries afford the reader a very personal insight into the thoughts and emotions of Che Guevara, the twentieth century's great revolutionary martyr.
About the Author
Ernesto Guevara was born and raised in Argentina. He died in Bolivia in 1967.