Industrial & Scientific Best Books of 2014 Shop Men's Running Shoes Shop Men's Running Shoes Shop Men's Cloud Drive Photos nav_sap_plcc_6M_fly_beacon Sinclair Amazon Fire Phone, now available unlocked Amazon Fire TV Amazon Wine Shop Top Deals in Pets Digital Week Digital Week Digital Week Fire tablets Year-End Kindle Daily Deals Video Games Accessories Week Shop Yoga Shop Athletic Clothing Shop Exercise & Fitness Toys & Games Deals
Start reading Hugo! on the free Kindle Reading App or on your Kindle in under a minute. Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

Enter a promotion code
or gift card
 
 
 

Try it free

Sample the beginning of this book for free

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

Hugo!: The Hugo Chavez Story from Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution [Kindle Edition]

Bart Jones
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

Digital List Price: $22.95 What's this?
Print List Price: $22.95
Kindle Price: $9.99
You Save: $12.96 (56%)

Free Kindle Reading App Anybody can read Kindle books—even without a Kindle device—with the FREE Kindle app for smartphones, tablets and computers.

To get the free app, enter your email address or mobile phone number.

Best Books of the Year
Best Books of 2014
Looking for something great to read? Browse our editors' picks for 2014's Best Books of the Year in fiction, nonfiction, mysteries, children's books, and much more.

Book Description

Ruling elites in Venezuela, the United States and Europe, and even Hugo Chávez himself though for different reasons, have been eager to have the world view him as the heir to Fidel Castro. But the truth about this increasingly influential world leader is more complex, and more interesting.. The Chávez that emerges from Bart Jones’ carefully researched and documented biography is neither a plaster saint nor a revolutionary tyrant. He has an undeniably autocratic streak, and yet has been freely and fairly re-elected to his nations presidency three times with astonishing margins of victory. He is a master politician and an inspired improviser, a Bolivarian nationalist and an unashamed socialist. His policies have brought him into conflict with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and major oil companies. They have also provided a model for new governments and social movements in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Argentina. When in September 2006 he declared at the United Nations that ‘the devil came here yesterday … the President of the United States’, it was clear that he was taking on challenging the most powerful nation on earth, in conscious imitation of the Liberator, Simon Bolivar.


From the Trade Paperback edition.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While opinions of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez vary tremendously on a global scale, there are few defenses of him available in the United States. This biography by Bart Jones, a former AP correspondent from Venezuela, attempts to level the ground. Without taking a political stance, Jones provides a nuanced account of the Venezuelan leader's life, creating a portrait that is, if not sympathetic, certainly more balanced than previous ones. For example, when Chávez characterized President Bush as the devil at the U.N. in 2006, most American news sources presented it as a crude and clownlike gesture. According to Jones, Chávez is hardly just a jester, but uses vulgarity to remind his friends and his enemies of his humble beginnings, as well as to win a tremendous amount of publicity. Jones's precise and entertaining account moves smoothly through Chávez's beginnings up to his current position, making Venezuelan history accessible. (Sept. 4)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Newsday reporter Jones worked for eight years in Venezuela as an Associated Press reporter, watching Chávez's fascinating political career unfold. He chronicles Chávez's life: a childhood of poverty, military training, adoption of the principles of Simón Bolívar on South American independence, failed coup to overthrow President Pérez, imprisonment, and his own controversial presidency beginning in 1998. From a nation best known for its oil reserves and its beauty queens, Chávez is making a mark internationally and is often compared to Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. Jones traces Chávez's personal and political history, his hunger to unite all of South America in development and provide social justice for Venezuela's poor, as well as the economic programs that have raised the ire of the U.S. A photographic insert adds to this important chronicle of one of the most compelling figures in politics today. Bush, Vanessa

Product Details

  • File Size: 2481 KB
  • Print Length: 600 pages
  • Publisher: Steerforth (June 2, 2009)
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B002BH5HTE
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray:
  • Word Wise: Enabled
  • Lending: Not Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #843,820 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  •  Would you like to give feedback on images or tell us about a lower price?


Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 31 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars considering the mainstream media November 14, 2007
Format:Hardcover|Verified Purchase
Considering what the mainstream media has to say about Hugo Chavez whenever the opportunity arises (and that is very frequently, considering how quickly changes are taking place in Venezuela) this book is, indeed, a must read. No matter what your opinion of Chavez is, Bart Jones presents a fine journalist's account of the modern history of Venezuela, it's leaders, and the life of its current president.

What also makes the book very important is the fact that it's a "good read". Unfortunately, too many times, books that are historically or politicly valuable are so poorly written. In this case, in addition to having done his homework about his subject Mister Jones presents his information with the skills of a disciplined writer.

Bravo!
Was this review helpful to you?
34 of 45 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The book on Chavez that we've been waiting for November 23, 2007
Format:Hardcover
I entirely empathize with the previous reviewer who stated: "I lost sleep two nights running because I just couldn't put the book down." This book reads like a great Latin American novel, and there are chapters that rank with the best freelance journalism I have ever read. Jones is not blind to Chavez's flaws and "undiplomatic" manner. But he makes clear how Chavez, alone among Venezuelan politicians of the post-independence era, has captured the imagination of the poor and made them a priority in his economic and social policies. The accounts of Chavez's original failed coup, and the coup attempt and strikes against him after he took power, are absolutely palpitating. And there were points where I had tears in my eyes reading Chavez's own comments on moments when he thought all was lost, yet emerged triumphant with the majority of Venezuelans at his side. Some may blanch at Jones's derisory comments about the role of Venezuelan elites in all this. I applaud him wholeheartedly for showing just how callow, narcissistic, and anti-democratic are most of the forces ranged against this most complex and fascinating of Latin American leaders.
Was this review helpful to you?
29 of 39 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Hugo: The Definitive Chavez Biography October 5, 2007
Format:Hardcover
¡Hugo!: The Definitive Chavez Biography
Review by Chuck Kaufman

[¡Hugo!: The Hugo Chavez Story From Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution, by Bart Jones Hardback, 570pgs, Steerforth Press, Sept. 2007, $30]

I am not a reader of biographies and I am not a fan of learning history by studying the lives of "great men." Having said that, I believe that ¡Hugo!: The Hugo Chavez Story From Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution by Bart Jones is one of the most important books of 2007 and a must read for anyone who wants a fair and balanced account of the great changes sweeping Venezuela and the historical roots that shaped the man, Hugo Chavez, and the Bolivarian process that is transforming the country.

Liberals and progressives in the United States have been influenced by the relentless Bush administration and corporate media campaign to depict Chavez as an autocrat who is a threat to democracy, press freedom, and human rights norms. Newsday reporter and author of ¡Hugo!, Bart Jones, has contributed a fast-paced, thoroughly researched and balanced book that allows the reader to make her own judgments.

Jones lived eight years in Venezuela arriving in 1992 just as Chavez and mid-level military officers were launching a failed coup against Carlos Andres Perez which landed Chavez in prison for two years. Jones lived in a poverty stricken Caracas barrio as a Maryknoll lay worker for the first year and a half and then landed a job as Associated Press correspondent through 2000. In the barrio he lived across the street from a mud hut just like the one where Chavez was born in his grandmother's hut. As an AP reporter Jones lived in the exclusive Altamira neighborhood, a bastion of the rich opposition to Chavez.
Read more ›
Was this review helpful to you?
22 of 31 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Cheering for Chavez March 6, 2009
Format:Paperback
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is a strange icon for a democratic left to admire; He is a former soldier who has led a military coup against his country's democratically elected government, who only acknowledged the legitimacy of Venezuela's democracy once he reckoned he had a good chance of winning. He is a consummate player of hypocritical realist foreign policy that would make Henry Kissinger proud - associate yourself with the very worse of the world's leaders (Saddam Hussein, Mahmud Ahmadinejad), and than still claim the moral high ground over your enemies. He has debased the language of international relations, and his internal policies are at the very least controversial.

But Bart Jones, author of ¡Hugo!: The Hugo Chavez Story from Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution, is a Chavez apologist, although it would be unfair to call him a Chavista (the term for Chavez's supporters). He employs numerous strategies to put Chavez in a sympathetic light. The chapter about the 2002 coup attempt against his government is titled simply "The Coup", but Chavez's own coup attempt was "The Rebellion of the Angels", Both Chavez and his opponents routinely demonize each other, and Chavez gave as good as he got, but that did not stop him from complaining about his "vilification" and Jones echoes these complaints.

The most potent weapon in Jones's armory, though, is George W. Bush. The readership of "Hugo" is likely fiercely opposed to the 43rd American President, and Jones takes advantage of the fact, positioning Chavez as a victim and an opponent of Bush, who should get the reader's sympathies by default.
Read more ›
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Missing Hugo
One of the best non-fiction offerings I have ever read! I don't deny that I was already a fan of Hugo Chavez before reading this biography, but my admiration for his courage,... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Lindyann
4.0 out of 5 stars Chavez is dead. DEAD I tell you! Long live el Caudillo!
This guy really did his homework. So well, in fact, that I reference him repeatedly in a book I wrote about living in the southern Venezuelan jungle. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars L McClure
The Hugo Chavez Story is clearly written, historically accurate, often exciting, at times funny. Hugo fought against corruption of the elite and brought education, healthcare and... Read more
Published 20 months ago by L. M. Mcclure
5.0 out of 5 stars Still a good, comprehensive review
As time flies, Jones' book becomes more dated, but it remains the most comprehensive take on Chavez' early years in power. Read more
Published on May 29, 2012 by R. L. Huff
1.0 out of 5 stars Author's Puppeteers Tell the Rest of the Story
When any AP author rears his head, RUN! The evidence for AP's ownership by the Banker Cartel behind the unrest in Venezuela and behind both the 'terrorists' and the militia of the... Read more
Published on August 17, 2011 by Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Great read... OJO... not completely accurate
This is a great book with a lot of information you will not find elsewhere. I highly recommend it and find it to be an essential read for those interested in the Chavez... Read more
Published on July 8, 2011 by Dawn Gable
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente
Por fin un libro sobre la vida de Hugo Chávez que escapa a los estereotipos y la contínua manipulación de información acerca del presidente... Read more
Published on June 6, 2011 by Julian J. Arevalo
4.0 out of 5 stars Good explanation of Chavez's life and background, little analysis of...
This is an engaging and easy-to-read biography of Chavez. I highly recommend it for people who want to understand Chavez's background and his personal struggles. Read more
Published on October 6, 2009 by Amos B. Batto
4.0 out of 5 stars The Most Powerful Man in Latin America
This book is a much needed analysis of the most powerful man in Latin America. Traditional western media outlets have described him as an evil communist crackpot. Read more
Published on August 8, 2009 by Rufus Burgess
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read, but not entirely impartial
I agree with other comments that Bart Jones's Hugo is an excellent read. I also agree with Omer Belsky's review that Jones takes a mostly pro Chavez stance. Read more
Published on July 3, 2009 by Laurence Zimmerman
Search Customer Reviews
Search these reviews only

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?



Look for Similar Items by Category