Customer Reviews

The Fall of Che Guevara: A Story of Soldiers, Spies, and Diplomats

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Ryan places Guevara's Bolivian adventure in an historical context that gives it hemispheric significance. As a case study of the US's Latin American counterinsurgency efforts in the 1960s, it demonstrates that the mistakes made in Vietnam were not repeated everywhere. Ryan also attacks some widely held assumptions, including Guevara's diminished ties with Cuba and CIA involvement in his eventual execution. Although objective at all times, this is "history with a heart". Key characters, such as Guevara himself, are brought to life by the author demonstrating not only his mistakes but his tremendous integrity, honor, and determination. A must-read for students of U.S.-Latin American relations during the Cold War.

Books on Che Guevara are generally classified within the political spectrum the readers put themselves in. This book, by Henry B. Ryan proofs that wrong or different. His writing occured due to the opening of many documents about the Argentinian rebel that were held in silence for years. And, one of the things I do admire most in this Ryan's book is the excellent translation from research into writing his clear, precise use of the English language that turns his writing into an enjoyable narrative so easy to follow.
New also, the metaphorical vision of Guevara within the Arthurian legends frame, not rare if Ryan identifies himself with the Anglo culture, similar as in a book by Regis Debray(Alabados sean nuestros senores) where he makes analogies between Guevara and the Middle ages French epic heroes. (No one have ever written about Che without falling a bit into the mythological trap).
(One thing I share with Mr. B. Ryan as I read the dedication: his profound identification with the little ones in the family)