and#147;Superb . . . Mr. Anderson does a masterly job in evoking Cheand#8217;s complex character, in separating the man from the myth . . .and#8221;and#151;The New York Times Book Review
and#147;Excellent . . . admirably honest [and] staggeringly researched . . . It is unlikely that after Andersonand#8217;s exhaustive contribution, much more will be learned about Guevara.and#8221;and#151;Los Angeles Times
and#147;[Cheand#8217;s] ideal, that curious mixture of resoluteness and recklessness . . . is brilliantly evoked in Jon Lee Andersonand#8217;s massive biography which traces, with exacting precision, the avatars of Cheand#8217;s epic life . . . . The portrait is now as complete as it will ever be.and#8221;and#151;The Times Literary Supplement (London)
and#147;An enduring achievement. It is hard to imagine that any [other biography] will match the volume and detail of research hereand#133;. [Guevaraand#8217;s victories and failures, equally spectacular, are part of our common historyand#133;.Che lives, not only in this book, but in the world.and#8221; and#150;The Boston Globe
and#147;Groundbreaking. . . . Andersonand#8217;s book is an epic end run around the guardand#173;ians of the Che legend.and#8221; and#151;The New Yorker
and#147;A masterly and absorbing account of Latin Americaand#8217;s famous guerrilla leader . . . Andersonand#8217;s book, easily the best so far on Guevara, is a worthy monument to a flawed but heroic Utopian dreamer.and#8221; and#151;The Sunday Times (London)
and#147;Remarkable . . . Andersonand#8217;s account is well rounded and far from uncritiand#173;cal . . . [his] journalistic flair and hard legwork are evident.and#8221; and#151;Foreign Affairs
and#147;Exceptional and exciting . . . Andersonand#8217;s up-close look, with beauty marks and tragic flaws so effortlessly rendered, brings the reader face to face with a man whose and#145;unshakable faith in his beliefs was made more powerful by his unusual combination of romantic passion and a coldly analytical mindand#8217; . . . An invaluable addition to the literature of American revolutionand#173;aries.and#8221; and#151;Booklist
and#147;A solidly documented biography that succeeds, with brilliant effect, in stripping away the layers of demonization and hero worship that for so long have concealed the human core of this legendary figure. . . Thanks to Jon Lee Anderson, we now have the true story, the real man, a portrait of excepand#173;tional substance to confound the myth and enhance our understanding of the facts.and#8221; and#151;The Kansas City Star
and#147;Jon Lee Anderson . . . draws upon an unprecedented wealth of new inforand#173;mation . . . [an] assiduously researched and perhaps definitive biography.and#8221;
and#151;San Francisco Chronicle
and#147;A skillful interviewer, Anderson elicited information from dozens of parand#173;ticipants in Guevaraand#8217;s lifeand#133;.Combining contradictory sources and an immense amount of detail, Anderson produces a multifaceted view of Guevara as a person, seething with ambiguities and complexities. This is an achievement that makes Che Guevara essential for anyone seriously interand#173;ested in Guevara or the Cuban revolution.and#8221; and#151;The Nation
and#147;Thirty years after his death, Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life gives an admirably balanced account of the Argentine adventurer, his real achieveand#173;ments and glamorous Robin Hood appeal . . . . An excellent guide to the myth behind the martyr.and#8221;
and#151;The Independent (London)
and#147;Exhaustive and convincing.and#8221; and#151;The New York Review of Books
and#147;The best [biography of Guevara] is Andersonand#8217;s epic. . . . A book that puts the evolution back in revolution, a meticulous record of this extraordinary life.and#8221;
and#151;Newsday
and#147;It is Andersonand#8217;s careful research that will define Guevara for the future.and#8221;
and#151;The Denver Post
and#147;A thorough and unbiased biography of a little-understood man, dead 30 years, who remains a father figure to modern-day revolutionaries around the world . . . A book that sees the forest for the trees, and in a life as comand#173;plicated and significant as Che Guevaraand#8217;s, that was no small task.and#8221; and#151;The Oregonian
and#147;Detailed . . . the book tells as much as is likely to be known about Guevaraand#8217;s end....As Mr. Anderson tells it, Che lives.and#8221; and#151;The Economist
and#147;The merit of Andersonand#8217;s work lies not only in the richness of details, but also in its objectivity. . . . Andersonand#8217;s book recounts in minute detail the chronology of an obsession.and#8221; and#151;Latin Trade
and#147;A sweeping biography of the Latino revolutionary and pop-culture hero. Anderson . . . steers clear of ideology, arguing that the Argentine-born Guevara was both a brilliant tactician and fighter and the truest represenand#173;tative of the old international communist agitator the State Department warned us about. . . . Students of Cheand#8217;s life and deeds need look no farther than Andersonand#8217;s volume.and#8221; and#151;Kirkus Reviews
and#147;Jon Lee Anderson has rediscovered the historical Guevara, and his authoriand#173;tative biography goes far in obliterating all the sentimental dross that has accrued around the figure of the heroic guerilla.and#8221; and#151;The New York Press
and#147;You would do well to read Jon Lee Andersonand#8217;s monumental biography, Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life....The bookand#8217;s mere table of contents could serve as the syllabus for Che l0l.and#8221; and#151;The Washington Post Book World
and#147;[Anderson] has researched diligently and has had access to much unpuband#173;lished documentation....This biography isand#133;absorbing and convincing because of its wealth of new information and willingness to let Guevara himself speak, in quotations from unpublished letters and diaries. . . . An indispensable work of contemporary history.and#8221;
and#151;The Guardian (London)
and#147;Five years of research and unprecedented access to friends, family and unpublished archives have allowed Anderson to fulfil his stated aim, to present the truth about Che Guevara.and#8221; and#151;Literary Review
and#147;A massive, painstaking biography of the Argentine guerilla leader who devoted his life to the ideal of a unified Latin American revolution.and#8221;
and#151;Buzz
and#147;A revealing portrait of the many Ches: the quixotic, freewheeling youth rambling around South and Central America in search of the good fight; the willful, asthmatic and#145;Jacobin of the Cuban Revolutionand#8217;; and finally...the holy martyr of armed rebellion at age 39. . . Che lives on as a paradox of his own time and ours.and#8221;
and#151;Time Out New York
and#147;Jon Lee Andersonand#8217;s authoritative new biography shows both the passionand#173;ate idealist and the cold-hearted disciplinarian.and#8221;
and#151;Newsweek
and#147;Vividly detailed . . . Anderson weaves a compelling psychological profile of Guevara.and#8221;
and#151;The Buffalo News
and#147;Che Guevara by Jon Lee Anderson may still be the best [biography of Che] for its deft stvle and its details of Cheand#8217;s post-Cuba adventures. It is also the only one to carry interviews with Cheand#8217;s widow, Aleida.and#8221;
and#151;Pub1isherand#8217;s Weekly
and#147;His biography appears to be definitive . . . . Obviously a reporter of great energy and enterprise, he scored at least two major scoops in his research: obtaining Cheand#8217;s uncensored diary of the guerrilla war in Cuba and discovand#173;ering more or less where Cheand#8217;s body was buried in Bolivia . . . genuinely gripping.and#8221;
and#151;Harperand#8217;s
and#147;[Anderson] manages to reflect his subjectand#8217;s and#145;special gleam,and#8217; the mix of qualiand#173;ties that made the Argentine-born adventurer irresistible to those of his contemporaries bent upon the violent overthrow of governments, and a durable icon for succeeding generations of revolutionaries. Che Guevara is the best treatment of its subject to date . . . . because the patient reader can distill from it a vivid sense of Che the man.and#8221;
and#151;The Philadelphia Inquirer
and#147;Neither Castaand#241;eda nor Taibo has written the definitive biography of Guevara. If anyone has, it is Jon Lee Anderson, whose Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life appeared earlier this year.and#8221; and#151;The Boston Book Review