Che Guevara : The Romantic Revolutionary

Although Che Guevara was murdered almost sixty years ago, the�famous red-and-black image of him is still widely seen around the�world: at leftist political demonstrations and, ironically - given his�strong opposition to capitalism - on many commercial products.�However, he was a controversial figure during his lifetime - and�remains so today. On both the political left and the political right,�attitudes to him vary widely: while some see him as a romantic,�highly-principled and legendary fighter for the world's poor and�exploited masses, others depict him either as an unrealistic and thus�irrelevant adventurer, or even as a ruthless and cold-blooded butcher.�Consequently, biographies about him over the decades have ranged�from the overly sympathetic, to the extremely hostile. As well as covering aspects of his family life and his loves - and his�early, sometimes less-than-revolutionary, attitudes - this biography,�as expected, deals with those areas for which Che is best known.�These include his adventurous explorations, as a young man on a�motorbike, of Latin and Central America; his leadership and bravery�during Cuba's Revolutionary War; his practical and theoretical�contributions to the conduct of guerrilla warfare; and his emergence as�an international revolutionary legend who inspired radical young�people in the 1960s, and who continues to inspire rebellious people�around the world today. However, this biography also explores other aspects of Che's life�which are not so well-known. From an early age, he developed a�keen love of reading, covering an eclectic mix of adventure stories,�poetry, history and philosophy - and, from his teens, he began a�lifetime habit of making notes on what he read. He also became a�strong chess player, able enough to draw with one of the world's�leading grandmasters. Even during guerrilla campaigns, he managed�to maintain those loves. Since his murder, he has emerged as an original contributor to�Marxist economics and philosophy. It was his wide-ranging studies�that led him to become an outspoken opponent of the `orthodox'�communism followed in the Soviet Union - and of its Cold War foreign�policy of `peaceful coexistence'. His tolerance of, and willingness to�work with, those having different views saw him accused of Maoism -�and even Trotskyism. More accurately, Che has bequeathed the�unique strand of revolutionary socialism known as `Guevarism'.