Bolívar: Libertador de América

by Marie Arana, Martha Cecilia Mesa Villanueva (Translator), Lina Rosas Martínez (Translator)

Un relato biográfico vibrante que captura la épica historia de Simón Bolívar, El Libertador.

Simón Bolívar se ganó el sobrenombre de El Libertador tras poner fin al dominio español sobre seis países. Su vida fue heroica, trágica y legendaria: viajó del Amazonas a los Andes, libró eternas batallas, forjó alianzas entre razas rivales...

Partiendo de un gran abanico de fuentes, Marie Arana captura un vívido retrato de la Suramérica de inicios del siglo XIX, la que forjó a Bolívar y lo convirtió en un valeroso general, un estratega brillante, un escritor portentoso y un político sin parangón; en definitiva, uno de los personajes más admirados de Latinoamérica. Bolívar es una biografía trepidante en la que el lector hallará la imagen de una vida trágica capturada en todo su esplendor y un conmovedor manifiesto de la verdadera esencia del pueblo latinoamericano.

Reseñas:
«Al fin Bolívar tiene la gran biografía que merece. Ha sido el mayor líder de la historia de Latinoamérica y su vida está repleta de lecciones sobre la pasión y el liderazgo. Este libro se lee con la facilidad de una magnífica novela, pero como obra histórica, su nivel de documentación la pone a la altura de una obra maestra.»
Walter Isaacson

«Bolívar tiene un enfoque magistral, es una obra construida con un sentido histórico y un estilo casi cinematográficos. Un logro impresionante, destinado a ganar premios literarios destacados.»
Joseph J. Ellis, Washington Post Book World

«Maravilloso. En este relato de Arana, tan ameno como intenso, Bolívar cobra vida, una vida épica. Contribuye a definir la biografía de Bolívar con una fuerza y un estilo fuera de lo común.»
Hector Tobar, The Los Angeles Times

«Arana aporta un lúcido testigo de los ideales, las alianzas y de la debilidad humana que condicionaron a Bolívar en sus decisiones y que, por consiguiente, cambiaron el cursode la historia en las Américas.»
The New Yorker

«Con gran intuición, Arana captura con destreza la audacia y la brillantez de Simón Bolívar, un líder venerado y menospreciado a su vez.»
Kirkus Reviews

«Arana es una investigadora incansable, una historiadora intuitiva y una escritora brillante, lo cual queda reflejado a la perfección en esta definitiva y sobrecogedora biografía del gran Simón Bolívar, el libertador de América del sur.»
Booklist (Top 10 Biografías del año)

«La prosa de Arana puede llegar a ser preciosa. Una novelista convertida en historiadora, su relato de la historia de Bolívar es maravillosa. Dos siglos después de su muerte, Bolívar sigue desatando pasiones como no logran hacerlo otros personajes más célebres. En la biografía de Arana descubrimos el porqué.»
Giles Tremlett, The Guardian

«Se lee como una novela, repleta de retratos, escenarios y escenas memorables y construida con mucho brío y con detalles realmente vívidos.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Latin American History, Biography Memoir, Politics, War

756 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 9, 2013

About the author

She was born in Peru, moved to the United States at the age of 9, did her B.A. in Russian at Northwestern University, her M.A. in linguistics at Hong Kong University, a certificate of scholarship at Yale University in China, and began her career in book publishing, where she was vice president and senior editor at Harcourt Brace and Simon & Schuster. For more than a decade she was the editor in chief of "Book World", the book review section of The Washington Post. Currently, she is a Writer at Large for The Washington Post. She is married to Jonathan Yardley, the Post's chief book critic, and has two children, Lalo Walsh and Adam Ward.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

“As [Simón] Bolívar’s fame grew, he became known as the George Washington of South America. There were good reasons why. Both came from wealthy and influential families. Both were ardent defenders of freedom. Both were heroic in war, but apprehensive about marshaling the peace. Both resisted efforts to make them kings. Both claimed to want to return to private lives, but were called instead to shape governments. Both were accused of undue ambition…There the similarities end. Bolívar’s military action lasted twice as long as Washington’s. The territory he covered was seven times as large and spanned an astonishing geographic diversity: from crocodile-infested jungles to the snowcapped reaches of the Andes. Moreover, unlike Washington’s war, Bolívar’s could not have been won without the aid of black and Indian troops; his success in rallying all races to the patriot cause became a turning point in the war for independence. It is fair to say that he led both a revolution and a civil war…”
- Marie Arana, Bolívar: American Liberator


There has long been a gap in my knowledge in the shape (and approximate size) of South America. There’s a reason for this. As far as historical topics go, South America is intimidating. It is geographically huge, racially diverse, and incredibly complex.

It’s hard to know where or with whom to start. Eventually, I turned to a biography of a man who – for a time – towered over the entire continent like a colossus.

Marie Arana’s Bolívar: American Liberator, tells the story of Simón Bolívar, a Venezuelan freedom fighter known as the Liberator, a man celebrated in his day – though mostly unknown today, at least in North America – who led a number of campaigns against the colonizing might of the Spanish Empire. In the end, he sent the Spanish packing; not content to simply foment revolution, he had a far-reaching vision of a unified Latin America, a vision he tried – and failed – to impose on the newly-independent nations he helped to free.

As Arana notes, Bolívar’s was an epic life, packed with unforgiving marches, brutal battles, numerous love affairs, and enough betrayals and intrigues to confuse Lord Varys. It is a remarkable tale that is deftly told. Arana packs this single, 464-page volume with loads of information, while still maintaining narrative clarity. I was a bit intimidated by this book when I started, simply due to the fact that I didn’t know the players or the arena. In short, I was fully prepared to be lost.

Any apprehensions I had were quickly dispelled. I doubt that Arana was aiming for entry-level accessibility here, but she writes with an intuitive grasp as to what a newcomer needs to know. Even with space at a premium – Bolívar’s life could fill a multi-volume set – she takes the time to set the geopolitical stage, not just in South America, but in Europe as well.

Bolívar was born into a wealthy creole family in 1783. The date of his birth was propitious, because he came of age in a time of revolt, revolution, and upheaval. In North America, the American colonies were finishing up with Great Britain. Within a few years, the French would overthrow the monarchy. Wars raged across Europe, and Napoleon Bonaparte came to prominence, unintendingly setting the stage for Spain to lose their colonies in South America by launching the Peninsular War.

Winston Churchill, remarking on the unfolding of World War II, once declared that: “All things are always on the move simultaneously.” Arana understands that historical eruptions in one part of the world can start with tremors thousands of miles away. It can be dizzyingly complicated, especially given South America’s fraught past, riven by innumerable fissures. Yet she manages to distill events down to their essence and to maintain a coherent perspective.

Arana is clearly enamored of Bolívar, and tends, at times, to act as his apologist. That does not keep her from presenting him with all his flaws, only that she often pauses to apply a bit of makeup. Her portrait of him is – not unexpectedly – contradictory at times. It is hard, if not impossible, to state with certainty his endgame. Of course, the riddle of his nature makes him all the more fascinating.

While Arana’s lens remains tight on Bolívar, she does provide ample space for some of the other stars in his orbit. Especially well-drawn are Bolívar’s longtime mistress, Manuela Sáenz, and his top lieutenant, General Antonio José de Sucre.

Perhaps the biggest shortcoming in Bolívar is the almost complete lack of tactical detail about Bolívar’s campaigns. Arana makes some lofty claims on her subject’s behalf, comparing him to some of the most skilled captains in the history of warfare, including Alexander the Great, Hannibal Barca, and Napoleon. It’s a tough argument, and if you want to make it, you need to be ready to back it up with some detail. While I understand this is a biography, not a military history, there should still be some substantive discussion as to what made Bolívar a military genius. Instead, Arana tends to rely on bold assertions and unsupported conclusions. The battles are told in such a cursory manner that I cannot, for the life of me, name a single one. (A lack of maps, as usual, compounds this failing).

Nevertheless, Bolívar still deserves praise. Arana is a skilled author who understands that writing is an art that is separate and apart from historical research. While she does not necessarily explain the ins-and-outs of Bolívar’s expeditions, she does a credible job of giving you a tactile sense of what it must have felt like to be a part of them.

Bolívar’s army crossed the Arauca River and passed into Casanare, where the rains were torrential, savannas flooded, and creatures adrift as far as the eye could see. His soldiers constructed boats of cowhide to transport the ordinance and keep it as dry as possible. They marched with mud sucking at their feet, or wading through waist-high water, or – when floods rose to their highest point – swimming. If they had families, they used their threadbare blankets to shield women from the cold and damp; if they didn’t, they used them to protect guns and ammunition. Hungry, weary, drenched through to the skin, they traversed a landscape such as they’d never seen. Men on horseback were no better off than those on the ground. Hooves grew soft in the bog and swamp, rendering animals lame. Feet swelled to such tender misshape that riders could no longer use their stirrups. The army carried on anyway, marching for more than a month, lured by trees that floated like promises of dry earth in those vast inland waterways. The frail were soon sick; the rugged, wounded; the unfortunate, at the mercy of tiny, flesh-eating fish that could strip limbs to bone in seconds…

In the Spanish system, the South American colonies were connected to the mother country like the spokes of a wheel. They were actively discouraged from forging relationships with each other, meaning that when war broke out, their only common ground was a hatred of Spain.

Bolívar looked beyond a victory against Spain to imagine a federation of South American states that might challenge Europe and the United States as a world power. That he failed is not surprising, given the racial distinctions, class structures, and local power vacuums of the lands he sought to stitch together. The remarkable thing is how close he came to success.

[Bill on GR Sabbatical · Rating 5 out of 5]

I generally prefer to learn history through reading biography, and I chose this book to learn more about South American history, of which I knew little. It delivered an excellent introduction to the history of northern South America, but even more so, told a gripping account of Bolivar's amazing life as Liberator of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia from Spanish colonial rule.

Although Arana admires her subject's military genius, physical strength and stamina, determination, vision for America, and insistence on freeing blacks and natives, as well as whites, she reports such flaws as his brutality, his willingness to set principles of liberty aside to assume dictatorial powers, and his inability to establish stable governments after vanquishing the Spanish, as well.

Bolivar's life provides novelist Arana with an embarrassment of material. He was born to privilege in Venezuela, but died penniless in Colombia. He never married again after the tragic death of his young wife, but was a passionate womanizer, maintaining a scandalous relationship with the married Peruvian revolutionary Manuela Saenz for eight years until his death. At one time, he ruled over an area larger than Europe, but he died a refugee, reviled in all of the nations he liberated.

Ironically, one of the longest-lasting legacies of Bolivar the Liberator and revolutionary was his personification of the South American dictator that haunted the continent for centuries.

Highly recommended both as a captivating biography and as an excellent introduction to Latin American history.

[Brett C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very informative narrative on a person & subject I knew nothing about. The author painted the picture of colonial South America, the social structure put in place by the Spanish, a long and thorough explanation of the racial caste in South America, and the events leading up to South American (Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, and Bolivia) liberation from Spain. Marie Arana also did a great job of interweaving the world political climate of the time, topics of revolution and slavery, economics and foreign policy and how these issues all related to Simón Bolívar and the wars for independence.

Simón Bolívar was a military general and political figure in Caracas, Venezuela, who eventually wanted to break the chain from Spanish rule. He was partly inspired by the American Revolution and the concept of independence was sparked by the weakening of Spain's authority and presence in South America due to it fighting Napoleon in the Peninsular War. Successive wars and slow-rolled revolution, war, and liberation of the abovementioned countries brought full Spanish withdrawal from the continent.

Overall this was informative and perfect for someone who knows little to nothing about this subject. The explanations and details were presented clearly and concisely throughout the book. Highly recommended for South American history enthusiasts. Thanks!

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a member of the American Historical Association, I had already heard buzz about Bolivar: American Liberator. As someone who enjoyed undergrad Latin American history courses but still wanted to learn more about the subject, I had put the book right on the top of my "to-read" list. So when I received a copy of this book through the First Reads program, I couldn't have been happier.

Make no mistake: Bolivar is a hefty, intense read. It weighs about as much as my cat and requires dedicated reading. Arana shows exceptional scholarship, and if you're someone who appreciates endnotes with your historiography, you'll enjoy her efforts. What is so nice is that she manages to be both a good historian and a good writer simultaneously, which is always a nice treat. Even though it took me a few weeks to get through it, it never lost my interest and always read well for me.

Arana presents a factually balanced account of Bolivar while not doing too much to hide her personal reverence. (Which is a good thing; bias isn't hidden.) She presents Bolivar as a George Washington figure -- flawed, yet ultimately brilliant in his efforts and execution. She also achieves a nice balance of covering the public and private sides of Bolivar; the details of his family and romantic life were especially well done. His death comes too soon; you want the story to keep going.

The area where the author needs to do more in presenting the complete history is where Bolivar's treatment of and impact on native peoples is concerned. There is a borderline Columbus issue going on, and one has to think Arana's admiration might play a part in that, which is unfortunate. As a reader, you will need to keep the writer and intended audience in mind at parts. (And you should always be doing that with books anyway.) None of this is to say it's not covered at all -- it most certainly is, and quite well -- but more treatment is warranted than what it gets.

Yet overall, this is a gorgeous book. It's not one that casual readers will pick up, especially if they're intimidated by a good book's girth, but true fans of history have no excuse for missing it. It will rightfully be the biography of Bolivar. 4.5/5.

(Review updated on January 8, 2015 to address the indigenous history problem and drop the rating by a star following a re-skim of the book.)

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really excellent biography, making an incredibly complex bit of history comprehensible and engaging. It’s long and complicated and takes some time to get through, but Arana has clearly done her homework, and I appreciated hearing about how other historians have viewed Bolívar alongside her own analysis. Happily, her style makes for compelling reading while being unafraid to dig into details and contradictions.

Simón Bolívar was both incredibly impressive and tragically flawed, credited with freeing six countries from Spanish rule (he was most active in his home country of Venezuela and in Colombia, though also instrumental in freeing Peru; Ecuador, Panama and his namesake country of Bolivia fell into place along the way). He was forward-thinking, outlawing slavery long before the neighbors to the north and focused on bringing disparate racial groups together. On the other hand, his military style was unfortunately dictatorial when he was inevitably put in charge of various liberated countries, and he was unable to build strong institutions to outlast him; he also over-invested in pet projects, like the unified Gran Colombia, that almost no one wanted, and was easily distracted by passionate affairs (I assume hundreds of cheap romances have been written and filmed about this man; you wouldn’t even need to fictionalize).

This is definitely not the fastest reading, as the revolutions involved dizzying numbers of leaders with ever-shifting motivations, lots of military back-and-forth, and some personal issues along the way. But Arana writes well and makes it all comprehensible for the lay reader, and I appreciated her analysis on disputed issues as well as the balance between political, personal and military detail. She’s even-handed, highlighting Bolívar’s achievements and moments of genius alongside his failures and their often tragic consequences. I’ll be thinking about the different outcomes of revolution in North and South America, and the reasons for them, for a long time to come.

[Dimitri · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the chica americana rounds up an impressive array of Spanish-language sources, she doesn't succumb to the hagiographic lure of Boliver which has led crustier academics astray. Instead she brings well-deserved sympathy for a man who was inspired by both the writers of the Enlightenment and the political experiment of the young United States, but smart enough not to graft either model straight upon Latin America. Eventually, one man proved too small to instantly deliver some form of democracy straight into a society identified by the bitterness of articifical divides, carefully cultivated by the colonialism whose armies he could smythe. He became the first dictator, albeit with an Iron Ass forged by interminable hours in the saddle to attack straight across the Andes in winter... and a heart captured by an array of women described so lifelike that you'd want to dine them yourself.

[Chrissie · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, now that this is done I am happy I read it. I knew practically nothing about Simón Bolivar (1783-1830). Who's he???? He is the Venezuelan who freed South America from Spanish rule! The battle for independence began in Venezuela in 1810, spread to Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru. Final independence wasn't achieved until 14 years later. (Chile and Argentina were freed from Spanish rule by others, and that is not covered in this book.)

The book follows the "liberator" from birth to death. He had such hopes, such high ideals - freedom and equality of all races. The tyranny of Spain was thrown off but bringing peace to a land with such a mix of religion and race lead in fact to chaos and civil war. How does it end for Bolivar himself? It ends in poverty, illness and exile. Both Bolivar's achievements and faults are presented. The research is thorough. His childhood, education and military campaigns are followed step by step by step. Civil wars, betrayals, friendships and mistresses. Wait till you meet his lover Manuela Sáenz! She is something else. It is all here. His death is covered too. I would say the reader is if anything given too much rather than too little.

The epilog is excessively long-winded.

I had trouble with the audiobook narration by David Crommett. He spoke the Spanish names of people and cities and rivers and areas so darn quickly that I could not even jot them down! There are lots of names! A person who is acquainted with Spanish will love it, but I had difficulty. So I learned what I could learn. If you cannot write down the name of a town how do you find it in an atlas or on internet? Also, he emphasized the text's lines, which is not the way I like audiobooks read. Suspense, fear and glory are magnified. I kept thinking, "Please, just calm down!"

I think if you know Spanish and if you are already acquainted with Bolivar and South American history, you will not find this as difficult a read as I did. It is a good book, but the more you know before starting it the more you will appreciate it. Heck, you have to start somewhere.



************************************

50% completed: Well, I am chugging through this thing. There have been moments I wanted to dump it. What makes it so very hard is that the names and places are pronounced very quickly with a Spanish accent. There are lots of names and places that I do not recognize. Given the correct but fast narration by one fluent in Spanish, I am having trouble. I am learning what I can. AND the narrator sort of sings the text, which drives me nuts, particularly when describing war atrocities. Phew, I really do not enjoy reading about such. Gruesome details, but this is what happened.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fight for independence in South America's was much more complex than that of the 13 colonies to the north. Despite the Spanish monarchy's ineffectiveness, it conferred great benefits the South American elite born on its soil and was rewarded with deep loyalty. In the North American Revolution, race was sidelined by a very restrictive slave system but South America had the more complex and entrenched caste system. Pedigree, including birth location (in the new world or the old) and blood (percentage Spanish and degree of indigenous, African) were major factors. Bolivar, unlike his North American liberators, could and would not talk of freedom for whites only. Bolivar's revolution was much more polarizing than Washington's; Bolivar's abolished slavery and all privileges based on birth.

Bolivar is a more complicated figure than his northern counterpart, George Washington. His war was longer, more heroic, and more devastating. In the aftermath, both were heroes, but Bolivar seems to be a target for jealousy and blame. When the war ended in the North, the former colonies got on with governing. When the war ended in the South, a long simmering power struggles segued into a civil war.

This is an epic story of war, politics, greed, friendship, and betrayal. There are fascinating love interests, particularly the eccentric mistress, Manuela Saenz.

I'd been looking for a good biography of Bolivar for some time and tried a few, but without a background in South American history, I found them hard to get into. Perhaps it is from her background as a writer of fiction that Marie Arana knows how to connect the reader with the content needed to understand Bolivar and his achievements.

Now, I feel I can go forward with Marquez's The General in His Labyrinth a book, which like Bolivar biographies, I've started several times, but without background, could not could not get into.

[Tyus Welter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anytime I read about a historical figure, my first thought, like many others, is always “would they be a good wingman/wingwoman?”

In the case of Bolivar, the answer is an emphatic no. He had all the tools—he was charming, cunning, and was a devotee of dental hygiene (guy made a point to brush his teeth daily. What a loon)—but he would not use them for your benefit. Instead, he would identify the lady upon whom you’ve got your eye and steal her right in front of your face. You’d be powerless as he rizzed her North, South, East, and West. As a liberator and a seducer, he was not bound by the cardinal directions. He was a true hero.

TLDR: Befriending Bolivar would offer no help in one’s pursuit of a hot babe. Here’s hoping that reading a book about him doesn’t fall into the same camp.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://thebestbiographies.com/2022/0...

Like many of the individuals I read about, Simón Bolívar (1783-1830) seems to be a biographer’s dream. He was born into wealth but died destitute, lost his parents at an early age, traveled the world as a youth, lost his new bride to disease, liberated six countries from Spanish rule, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt and enjoyed a spirited romantic life.

Nevertheless, this is a biography about which I feel surprisingly ambivalent. Its strengths are notable – and quickly obvious. Its weaknesses, however, are sometimes subtle and difficult to articulate.

Arana captures Bolívar’s life and personality with dexterity and often-enchanting prose. But her writing style is inconsistent, ranging from lyrical and descriptive to hurried and superficial. And where one passage might place the reader on a beautifully-described vista with the book’s hero, the next paragraph could easily be a series of facts strung impassively together.

No one can argue that the 464-page narrative fails to cover impressive ground. In fact it is hard to imagine an author accomplishing so much with this amount of space. But while the reader is treated to a fascinating review of Bolivar’s life there is a persistent feeling of not getting the whole story – that for all the biography offers, there is a great deal that is untold…or unknown.

It is rare that I learn so much about a biographical subject and still feel like I hardly know him or her. And it is not often I wish a book had productively been at least twice as long.

Some readers will fault Arana for penning a biography that is too adoring of “the George Washington of South America”. But she injects more than sufficient evidence to indict Bolívar for a wide variety of transgressions and misdeeds. He did not lead a faultless life and no one can avoid seeing the colorful accounts of his arrogance, habitual womanizing and occasional brutality.

Arana intermittently provides rich context as her subject travels the world and, later, takes on the Spanish empire. But readers who are not well-versed in Latin or South American history will find it difficult (or impossible) to appreciate all of the tensions of his time and place. And the number of unfamiliar characters who move in and out of Bolivar’s life can be dizzying…and discomfiting.

And although the book ends with a helpful review of Bolívar’s life and legacy, one simple tweak in organizational style could have made an enormous difference in my comprehension along the way: the inclusion of introductory and concluding paragraphs to serve as a high-level preview, and review, of key messages in each chapter.

Overall, Marie Arana has painted a nice portrait of a remarkably captivating and compelling character. Readers already familiar with Bolívar’s world are likely to appreciate this book in a way I could not, while those lacking my patience and perseverance will almost certainly grade it lower. But in the end while “Bolívar: American Liberator” is more than satisfactory, it is not fully satisfying.

Overall rating: 3¾ stars

[John Caviglia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Were there such a thing as an index of thanklessness, Simón Bolívar would no doubt earn one of the highest marks in history. Born immensely rich—in what is now Venezuela—he died destitute. He liberated much of South America from Spanish tyranny—an area larger than that of modern Europe—and for this he ended up hated and reviled by most of those he liberated. He freed everybody, including Native Americans and Blacks—when the North American revolution against the British most definitely did not—and they, too, turned against him. He died at the age of 47 on his way to exile, a broken and diseased man, having ridden more than 75,000 thousand miles on horseback, according to Arana—three times the circumference of the earth—in the service of liberation....

But "Iron Ass," as he was called by his troops, has posthumously been idolized by many—a Latin American icon. Arana quotes the Cuban hero, Jose Martí, in her epigraph: "Of Bolívar you can only speak from mountaintops, or amid thunder and lightning, or with a fistful of freedom in one hand, and the corpse of tyranny at your feet." And yet this idol of many is scarcely known in today's English speaking world. Arana rectifies the situation by bringing this complex, controversial and often contradictory man to vivid life.

Although Bolívar had years of military training when young, he was in his own way a man of the Enlightenment, who lived for quite some time in France, read Hume, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Voltaire, and was capable of quoting Homer. A brilliant general, he put his enlightenment ideals to "work" in the liberation of the greater part of a continent. The process was very complicated, very long (c. 1813-1830), and always very, very bloody, often a matter of civil war, rather than war against the Spanish. I leave it to Arana to fill you in on the details—for fill you in she does, in this hefty tome of some six hundred pages . And—Bolívar being as crucial as he is to both past and present Latin America—what she recounts is fascinating.

At this point I must confess that—not being a historian of this period in South American history—I cannot comment on the overall and absolute correctness of Arana's interpretation of the recorded facts, though it is clear that her research was exhaustive. Basically, I trust her mission. However, there are those who criticize her for "novelizing" history, presumably keeping it from being the utterly dry, dry thing that it should be. And Arana did indeed come to this, her first history book, as a novelist. Personally, I do not mind the mention, say, of "azure skies" never recorded. Where's the harm, as long as the facts are straight...?

That said, there is no question that Bolívar and his deeds are widely open to interpretation, he and the times being complex enough, and the records what they are. There is the thorny and ironic issue of the price of liberty: How brutal and destructive, how dictatorial, does a liberator actually need to be in order to accomplish his liberation? And indeed Bolívar was at times brutal, destructive, despotic. Arana, I think, attempts her version of a balanced view of such larger issues, while also sketching in the liberator's "warts." Bolívar, for example, was unabashedly a womanizer, and she depicts him so. Or, then, is this emphasis on his women "romantizing" in its own way...? In the end, to my mind, all these questions large and small pale before the fact that the extraordinary man who refashioned a continent is here brought to life for readers of English.

A couple of minor, concluding caveats.... In a volume so long and laden with apparatus, I would have appreciated more, and more detailed, maps. Also, as one comfortable with Spanish, I sorely felt its lack in the text. All of the many letters quoted, for example, are translated (not even, in the original, as footnotes). The Spanish for "Iron Ass," though I could have guessed it, I had to google (it's Culo de Hierro). "Greater Colombia," likewise (Gran Colombia). Surely there are other Latinos and hispanophiles out there who would appreciate, at key moments, the language of this drama in the original. But all in all, Arana has created a magnificent and elegantly written account about one of the most fascinating men of history.

Questions that this book brings up linger in my mind.... Why did revolution so differ in North and South America? And, what would the present world be like if Bolivar had achieved what he intended—a kind of USSA, or United States of South America...?

[Francisco Restrepo · Rating 5 out of 5]

La verdad es que nunca gusté de los libros de historia y -por un concepto que le escuché a Fernando Vallejo- menos aún de las novelas históricas; tampoco gustaba de Bolívar y la historia de Colombia porque -al igual que Cien años de Soledad- eran temas escolares que mis profesores se encargaron, sistemáticamente, de envenenarlos. Sin embargo decidí comenzar a leer este libro al investigar un poco a cerca de la escritora y darme cuenta que era peruana, parece un dato menor, pero esto me pareció que garantizaba una visión diferente a la patriótica y nacionalista que tenemos de Bolívar venezolanos y colombianos. No me equivoqué.

En lo que sí me equivoqué fue en clasificar el libro como novela histórica porque no lo es, solo con leer el primer capítulo se entiende -tal como lo advierte Walter Isaacson- que se está leyendo una biografía novelada, muy fácil de leer y extremadamente bien temporizada entre entre cita y cita a lo largo de 18 capítulos y un epílogo. Particularmente me gustaron capítulos como “En el imperio del Sol” por la batalla de Ayacucho y por el encuentro entre Bolívar y San Martín en Guayaquil; y "Arar en el mar" por que resume las dudas del Libertador, que terminan siendo también, las nuestras. Finaliza el libro con un guiño a García Márquez en el capítulo "El General en su Laberinto". Para mi sorpresa los agradecimientos finales -que generalmente nunca leo- son la cereza del postre, como un cuento corto.

En conclusión, libro MUY recomendado, seas o no seguidor del genero histórico o de las biografías. Deja en el paladar ese sabor para el plato siguiente, en mi caso Santander, de Pilar Moreno de Angel, para equilibrar fuerzas.

Leído en Kindle y comprado en físico.

"Cuando deje de existir, esos exaltados se devorarán unos a otros como una manada de lobos, y lo que erigí con esfuerzo sobrehumano se ahogará en el fango de la rebelión” Simón Bolivar

[Daniel Chaikin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a terrific book and a larger than life real-life story, but, goodness, there is so much to tell, I don't know where to begin, or how to sum up. I can't explain Bolivar in a simple straight way without wandering off on convoluted discursive paths in an effort to clarify.



Simón Bolívar was a wealthy and unruly orphan from Caracas who was educated by a random but fascinating assortment of characters, was connected to the highest society, would play badminton with the crown prince of Spain, and later, in Parisian and Italian high society meet many of the leading figures of the day, including Alexander Von Humbolt (who "judged him a puerile man").

Simón Bolívar was a failure, part 1, 2 & 3. His most impressive role in the First Republic of Venezuela was to be exiled instead of executed. The Admirable Campaign that initially made him famous and led to him being named the Liberator and that mostly took place in Colombia, created the Second Republic of Venezuela. This one was wiped out by the Legions of Hell (that's their actual name), a marauding army of ex-slaves loyal to Spain that would rape and pillage through the second republic, massacring a large portion of revolutionary supporters. Bolivar wound up in Jamaica and Haiti. Having finally figured out that he needed to manage the slave revolt if he were to get free of Spain, he invaded again, freed the slaves, promised to undo the racial favoritism and saw his invasion quickly wiped out again. He was chased out by his own revolutionary allies and almost gutted by an ally who was so upset he swung a sword a him to kill (and would later be a loyal supporter of Bolívar).

Simón Bolívar was in a weird place. Spain had done some strange stuff to keep the masses in check in New Spain. The European descendants, Creoles, like Bolívar, were divided from the natives, and from the slaves and a large population of mixed race in what came to be tension driven freezing-in-place of the system. It was these kind of tensions that led to the Legions of Hell to fight against the Creole rebellion, and that made these new rebellious colonies impossible to manage, leading to a variety of regional warlords who no one actually liked. No one liked anyone else, except somehow everyone like the Liberator, Bolívar. So he became to only possible leader. This is just the beginning.

Simón Bolívar was special. It's only at this point that we say he was what the myths say - energetic, elegant, educated, graceful, charming, tougher than everyone else, deeply dedicated to his cause with full integrity, insightful, and finally savvy enough to be dangerous.

Simón Bolívar was the revolution. From this point Bolívar made it happen almost single-handed. His energy was the motor of the revolution, his integrity disarmed, his charm brought devout enemies to join him, his physical prowess won over his army (which included large contingents of British veterans out of work after Waterloo), his personality won over the most intransigent resistance to cooperation, his strategies, many psychological, would set the victories in place. Finally, his statesmanship won over whatever was left.

Simón Bolívar was a butcher. Outside the 800 Spanish prisoners he ordered beheaded over a few days because of rumors of a prison revolt, he lost several armies, saw populations of entire regions drop by 1/3, economies completely break down.

Simón Bolívar was a notorious womanizer. Briefly married, he met widowhood by finding prominent lovers in France, notably the married Fanny du Villars. He took with Josefina "Pepita" Machado almost as a war prize, and once held an entire invasion fleet on hold in port for several days until she could join him. She disappeared somewhere in the Venezuelan wilderness, on the way to meet him. And, most famously, Manuela Sáenz, the married Peruvian who became his final mistress, saving his life during an assassination attempt.

Simón Bolívar was a failure, part 4. He would momentarily reach an amazing high tide where he had freed future Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia from Spain, had charmed his rival liberator, San Martín, Liberator of Argentina, out of the picture, was writing his own constitutions and had in a place a very talented successor, Antonio José de Sucre. Alas, his constitution with its life-time president left about everyone horrified, including Henry Clay, his most devout supporter in the unsupportive United States and Lafayette, one his most valued European supporters. Regional animosities, an assassination attempt and tuberculosis finally led him to resign all powers and try to flee his own country, shortly after saying in an important speech, "I am ashamed to admit it, but independence is the only thing we have won, at the cost of everything else." He would die several month after giving up the presidency. He was nearly alone, poor, out of power, unwanted, and finally broken by the news of the assassination of Sucre.

Simón Bolívar is a legend. Quoting Arana, "But, for all his flaws, there was never any doubt about his power to convince, his splendid rhetoric, his impulse to generosity, his deeply held principles of liberty and justice." and later, "The intervening century had made Bolívar a good Catholic, a moral exemplar, an unwavering democrat—none of which he had been during his life."

And, worst of all, Simón Bolívar has become a rallying cry of populist autocrats the like of Hugo Chavez and his Bolivarian Revolution: "Bolívar purported to hate dictatorships—he claimed he had taken them on only for limited periods and as necessary expedients—but there is little doubt that he created the mythic creature that the Latin American dictator became."

What an insane life.

I picked this up because I had just read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel The General in His Labyrinth, based on Bolivar's last several months of life, living on little money, very ill and essentially rejected by his continent.

-----------------------------------------------

48. Bolívar : American liberator by Marie Arana
published: 2014
format: 468 page hardcover (603 with notes in bibliography)
acquired: Library
read: Aug 25 - Sep 13
rating: 4

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marie Arana's Bolivar: American Liberator pays homage to the outsize life of Simon Bolivar, who forged South American independence from Spain and left a legacy that resonates centuries later. Arana ably chronicles Bolivar's early life as a footloose young aristocrat who imbibed ideas of personal liberty traveling through Europe, inspired as well by the American and French Revolutions and Napoleon's early conquests in the 1800s. He returned to his homeland of Venezuela to find it already wracked by a nationalist uprising. Initially subordinate to Francisco de Miranda and others, Bolivar rose to command through his courage, charisma and military brilliance, defeating Spanish and reactionary forces in a bloody, decade-long War of Independence. Arana shows that Bolivar's personal philosophy was informed by both strains of his experience: his idea of freedom that also entertained the need for a strong ruler, a dictator if necessary, and his wars of liberation resulted in mass executions and bloodshed. His vision for independence turned into dreams of a united South America (Gran Colombia) which collapsed under its own weight; the celebrated Liberator became a pariah in his own time. Despite this, his legacy looms large in South America, with countless caudillos and revolutionaries (including Hugo Chavez) citing him as a model. Arana does a fine job capturing the tumult, violence and conflicting dreams of Bolivar's time, even if the man himself remains something of an enigma.

[Grumpus · Rating 4 out of 5]

The grumpus23 (23-word commentary)
Good biography, I learned a lot. Valid or not, I felt he was the George Washington of South America, except for the sex.

[Frank Theising · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually stumbled upon this book thanks to the Goodreads.com recommendations feature. My penchant for biographies and my near total ignorance on the rich history of South America made it a particularly appealing selection. Although this book strikes a rather reverential tone throughout, I was struck by the feeling that the same exact story could easily be spun to paint Bolivar in the most negative light possible. To quote the historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto: “The problem of getting inside Bolívar's head is enough to drive anyone crazy. The Liberator's erratic behavior and contradictory pronouncements baffle biographers who try to fathom him and politicians who try to exploit him. Simón Bolívar was born in 1783 in Caracas to an aristocratic family with roots in Spain's Basque Country. Throughout his short life—he died in 1830 of tuberculosis, at age 47—Bolívar's vocation was equivocal, his character mercurial. He proclaimed liberty and imposed tyranny. He praised civility and waged terror. He exalted fraternity and encouraged fratricide. He revered Spanish-American unity, but his wars helped to destroy it, wrecking the countries they carved out.” Given the daunting task of explaining a man of such contradictions I think Marie Arana’s work is commendable.

A short synopsis follows. Born into a prosperous Creole family in Venezuela, Bolivar was exposed early to the grievances the aristocratic creoles had against Spanish governance and economic management. His most significant early influence was a tutor named Simon Rodriguez who eschewed the traditional classroom routine and encouraged Bolivar’s adventurous spirit teaching him outdoors on horseback. As a youth he traveled to Spain and witnessed firsthand the decaying Spanish monarchy. Falling in love, he married Maria Teresa Del Toro, who died at the age of 18 upon their return to South America. According to Bolivar himself, this event changed the course of his life, turning his focus from domestic bliss to politics. In subsequent travels across Europe, he embarked on an unending string of sexual conquests, as if seeking to escape his grief over the death of his wife. Initially enamored with Napoleon and the accomplishments of France (after it had rid itself of its Bourbon king), he quickly grew disillusioned with Napoleon after he had crowned himself emperor. While in Rome, he swore an oath to liberate his country, eager to replicate the achievements of France and the US.

When Napoleon invaded Spain, the door was open for Bolivar to attempt just such a feat. Too young and unproven to lead he signed up to fight under the leadership of Francisco de Miranda. This revolution would quickly fail with Bolivar escaping to New Granada (modern day Columbia) after their defeat. In New Granada, he achieved some minor military successes and sought to invade Venezuela in what seemed a foolhardy enterprise. With 500 sick and ill-equipped soldiers, he captured Caracas within 8 months of his invasion. As part of his campaign, Bolivar declared a war of annihilation against the Spanish which engulfed Venezuela in a sea of blood. Essentially declaring a race war, the Spanish replied by enlisting the help of Jose Tomas Boves and his “Legions of Hell,” an army of black, pardo, and mestizo plainsmen who pillaged and plundered across the country under the pretext of fighting in the name of King Ferdinand VII.

Following the end of the Peninsular War back in the madre patria, the Spanish returned to South America in force. However, in releasing Boves to conduct a full on race war, their objective of returning the country to the pre-revolution status quo seemed rather impossible since it had been built upon the class system that Spain had carefully cultivated for over 300 years. During this time, Bolivar once again fled the country to Jamaica where he made valuable contacts with gun smugglers. There he penned his famous “Letter from Jamaica” in which he argues that European monarchy and “Philadelphia-style” democracy were both incompatible with the peoples of South America. His solution was a strong central government (dictatorship) capable of addressing the people’s wretched condition.

Upon his return to the continent, Bolivar freed Spanish America’s slaves (somewhat self-servingly in order to increase the size of his dwindling army). He quickly reconquered the Venezuelan countryside. While most assumed he would try to retake Caracas, Bolivar instead struck out during the rainy season to cross the Andes and conduct a surprise attack known as the Battle of Boyaca to liberate New Granada. Successful, he then negotiated an armistice with Spanish General Morillo which lasted about 5 months and bought Bolivar time to consolidate his gains. When the conflict resumed, Bolivar triumphed at the Battle of Carabobo making his victory complete. He united Venezuela and New Granada to form the Republic of Gran Columbia. Not content in his Presidential duties and recognizing his true strengths as a “son of war” Bolivar sought to take the fight against Spanish rule outside the borders of his newfound republic and into Peru.
Having finally purchased Florida from Spain (an obstacle to earlier US intervention) the US declared the Monroe Doctrine as Bolivar continued to achieve military successes on the continent. However, Bolivar’s long conflict in Peru also began to add strain on his Republic back home. The vast expense of maintaining an army in Peru started to cause serious political rifts. Gran Columbia had essentially underwritten the liberation of six countries (Venezuela, New Granada, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia). Venezuela under the leadership of Jose Antonio Paez and New Granada under the leadership of Francisco de Santander grew to become fierce rivals with only one thing in common; they both desired a break from the artificial Gran Columbia so they could rule their individual fiefdoms. This division would lead the country to the precipice of civil war.

In seeking to establish a new government, Bolivar’s constitution was much more aligned with a British model than a US model (with the peculiar addition of a President-for-Life). In Bolivar’s mind, the US model was a recipe for anarchy and division given the vast racial diversity of South America and the pitiful state of education among the masses. Only a strong central leader could hold it all together. Having returned to Columbia from Peru (Ecuador), Santander and a group of followers attempted to assassinate Bolivar. He escaped their grasp due to the bravery of his infamous mistress Manuela Saenz who stalled the assailants with a sword while Bolivar escaped.

Fading rapidly as result of Tuberculosis and disheartened over the betrayal of his former comrades, Bolivar grew bitter and disillusioned with his dreams of a Pan-American nation. He questioned the costs that had been paid (Populations cut in half, cities and farms burned, the economy in ruins, etc) with nothing to show for it but their liberation from Spanish rule. Even on his death bed, Bolivar seemed to be indispensable (even to his enemies) to avoiding anarchy and civil war. His dying wish was only for unity of the Spanish American people. He resigned his presidency (seeking to dispel the persistent myth that he sought to crown himself king) with the intention of retiring to Europe or the Caribbean. However, having never accepted the pay and prizes of his military conquests, Bolivar was penniless and on the verge of destitution. He died, reviled, misunderstood and slandered by both New Granadans and Venezuelans as a dictator and would be king. He remained unwelcome in his native country and died with only a few of his closest supporters still behind him. Following his death, the animosity against Bolivar faded and he became the very personification of Latin American greatness. Over the years, politicians of both the left and right would twist his legacy and his words to support their political positions and strengthen their regimes.

[Carl R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I noted a recent review of Bolivar, realized how little I knew of "The George Washington of South America," put it out on my Christmas wish list, and the most literary of my lovely granddaughters made my wish come true.

Marie Arana's lively version of Simon Bolivar's life, a life with peaks high as the Andes' loftiest and as low as the valleys in between, sings with inspired prose and clarifies as tangled a web of alliances and betrayals as the history of any revolution in the world can offer. Born rich and privileged in Caracas, Bolivar the youthful playboy wandered Europe, consorting with royalty and flitting from woman to woman like a hummingbird skips from flower to flower (a habit he never broke). He finally married, but lost his Maria Teresa to yellow fever soon after the wedding:

Spiritually depleted, physically exhausted ... everywhere he looked, there were only shards of an imagined life. ... He [was] forced to rethink every ambition of his hope-filled youth.

This impulse toward triumph and depression marked Bolivar's personality and created some of the greatest victories and most horrible mistakes of any revolutionary in history. Robbed of his love and suddenly uninterested in managing his vast landholdings, he turned to the question of the 300 years of Spanish domination over the countries of South America. The time was ripe. Both the North Americans and the French had thrown off their yokes. Spain was involved in a long and depleting war with England, and its royal house was in severe disorder. In 1803, the region of Colombia (countries at the time were ill-defined) was aching for an uprising, lacking only a leader. Bolivar became the man.

Since his sobriquet compares him to George Washington, Arana properly outlines the similarities and differences between the two leaders and their situations. Washington led a revolt of men who shared a relatively common faith, race, educational background, and political philosophies. The geography he traveled does not match South American extremes--the Appalachians are no Andes, after all. Bolivar insisted throughout that all slaves be freed and invited to join his armies despite the fears of many of his class that they'd end up like the dead slaveholders of Haiti's recent uprisings. Washington held no such ideal, finding it somehow impossible unto his death to free his slaves despite declaring his wish to do so.

Both men were consummate generals who fought bravely alongside their troops. Bolivar was known as "iron ass" for his ability to stay in the saddle day and night for as long as it (whatever "it" happened to be) took. Arana estimates his travels at around 75, 000 miles of jungle and mountain trails. He led armies from East Coast Venezuela cross-country to West Coast Peru, back again, and back and forth once again with a ton of side excursions in between. At various times he united forces of landowners and field hands and slaves to throw off the oppressors who had ruled and divided the countries along race and class lines since Pizarro's time in 1516. Along the way, he wrote and wrote and wrote. Not the reasoned, logical missives of our George, but always passionate, if sometimes intemperate proclamations. Speaking of the view from Mount Chimborazo :

Tread if you dare on this stairway of Titans, this crown of earth, this unassailable battlement of the New World From such heights will you command the unobstructed vista; and here, looking on earth and sky--admiring the brute force of terrestrial creation--you will say" Two eternities gaze upon me: the past and the yet-to-be; but this throne of nature, like its creator is as enduring, as indestructible, as eternal as the universal father.

But also unlike Washington, he had no notion of governance. To his credit, he knew it. He declared himself a general only, "a man .... dangerous to a popular government, a threat to national sovereignty." But also, unlike Washington, he had no one else to assume political leadership. No Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, or any of the enlightened others. What he had surrounding him were a collection of squabbling generals and politicians, each anxious to secure his fiefdom, whether political, geographical or both. No one of any great influence was interested in his vision of a united states of South America. He didn't help his own cause with some of his more drastic moves. He once directed the slaughter of hundreds of political prisoners in the public square of Caracas. He went from advocating popular rule and elections to the notion of appointing presidents for life, each president empowered to appoint his successor. Thus, he opened himself to the charge of tyranny and robbed his cause of the support of key figures in the United States--Henry Clay among them.

His flagrant sexual affairs didn't help his reputation either, especially since he insisted on keeping the notorious Manuela Saenz (married, cigar-smoking, cross-dresser, probably sexually involved with her two black slave/maids) at his side whenever possible.

By the end of his life in 1840, he was widely reviled and disowned. It was only in death that he eventually became the sainted figure whose statues graces so many plazas and whose name and writings became political tools for public figures as disparate as Allende and Chavez.

Bolivar was a powerhouse of a man and as deserving of historical canonization as any I've read about. He created and/or made possible Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, and Peru. Having done a little traveling in South America helped me envision what he accomplished and what he went through to do it, though I can't pretend to truly understand the depth and scope of it all. However, if you ever wondered about Pogo's "we have met the enemy, and they are us," you will find it profoundly illustrated in Marie Aranas' account of this great and horrible life.

[Carlos Jaramillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

La vida de este hombre es increíble. No se puede decir menos que eso. Últimamente la figura de Bolivar es asociada con diferentes causas y movimientos, eso genera un misticismo sobre el verdadero hombre. Este libro describe objetivamente quien fue y logró Bolivar. De orígenes aristócratas hasta llegar a ser liberador de varios países sudamericanos. Con este libro me he dado cuenta que no todo lo que hizo Bolivar fue bueno y heroico (guerra hasta la muerte, ejecuciones masivas de españoles inocentes). Como su ideal de un continente unido fue destruido por sus opositores. Un termino que podría denominar su vida puede ser: traicion. Su vida esta repleta de ella. Generales que lo acompañaron durante ña batalla lo traicionan para quedarse con un pedazo de territorio para gobernar. Aun asi, con todas las traiciones Bolivar los disculpa por el bien de unir Colombia.
Yo creo que este libro es de lectura obligada para todos, nos enseña varias cosas: la idiosincrasia latinoamericana se deriva directamente de los acontecimientos de 1800’s tambien nos enseña que si tenemos un ideal debemos luchar y no descanzar hasta poder lograr, no importan las adversidades.

[David Kinchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although there are sixteen cities or counties named for Venezuelan-born Simón Bolívar in the United States -- including Bolivar (Jefferson County) WV -- the real Great Liberator -- the man behind the elaborate uniforms he's pictured in -- is not very well known in the United States.

Marie Arana of The Washington Post remedies that in her masterful, comprehensive and very readable biography, "Bolívar: American Liberator." Even so, the military leader/politician's life and philosophy was so complicated that you'll probably come away from Arana's book with more questions than answers. And that's a good thing to take away from an outstanding biography.

If there's truth in Harry Truman's famous statement that if you want a friend in Washington, DC get a dog, advice given to Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Blanco (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) would be to get dogs in the capitals of all six of the countries he's credited with liberating: Caracas, Venezuela; Bogota, Colombia; Panama City, Panama (then part of Colombia); Quito, Ecuador; Lima, Peru (together with Argentina's Don José de San Martín), and La Paz, Bolivia.

The book's publication was timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of his first effort to throw off the Spanish yoke from Venezuela, the first of six countries he's credited with freeing. In so doing, he traveled more than 75,000 miles on horseback -- gaining the nickname "Iron Ass" -- and became the greatest figure in Latin American history.

His life is epic, heroic, straight out of Hollywood: he fought battle after battle in punishing terrain, forged uncertain coalitions of competing forces and races, lost his beautiful wife soon after they married and never remarried (although he did have a succession of mistresses, including one -- the famous -- and infamous Manuela Sáenz -- who saved his life in an episode worth of a "Zorro" movie), and he died relatively young at the age of 47 from tuberculosis, uncertain whether his achievements would endure.

Drawing on a wealth of primary documents, novelist and journalist Marie Arana, born in Lima, Peru, to an American mother and Peruvian father, brilliantly captures early nineteenth-century South America and the explosive tensions that helped revolutionize Bolívar.

In 1813 he launched a campaign for the independence of Colombia and Venezuela, commencing a dazzling career that would take him across the rugged terrain of South America, from Amazon jungles to the Andes mountains. From his battlefield victories to his ill-fated marriage and legendary love affairs, Bolívar emerges as a man of many facets: fearless general, brilliant strategist, consummate diplomat, passionate abolitionist, gifted writer, and flawed politician. A major work of history, "Bolívar"colorfully portrays a dramatic life even as it explains the rivalries and complications that bedeviled Bolívar’s tragic last days. It is also a stirring declaration of what it means to be a South American.

Throughout the book, Arana uses the term "America" in its proper sense: referring to the geography of the Western Hemisphere, with its North and South Americas. Using the word "American" exclusively to refer to residents of the United States is incorrect. Bolívar is as much an American as George Washington, with whom he is often compared.

USA Americans tend to be smug about the nice tidy country the 13 colonies became after the Revolution was over in 1783. As a reader will quickly discover in a book I'm reading (and will review) "Blood of Tyrants: George Washington and The Forging of The Presidency" by Logan Beirne, the original United States was governed -- if that's the word -- by the Articles of Confederacy, replaced by the Constitution in 1787. The U.S. under the Articles was an impossible-to-sustain loose union of 13 independent countries, many threatening to go their own way -- much as the countries like Gran Colombia did after Bolívar and his troops liberated them from Spain.

More often than not as soon as a colony was liberated its inhabitants cheered Bolívar's actions for a short period, after which they turned on him, accusing him of wanting to be a king or dictator for life. There was some truth in the latter, because Arana writes about the model constitution The Liberator drafted for several countries which specified a lifetime presidential term. Although Bolívar admired Washington, he realized that the colonies he liberated were not at the stage of political development that the 13 North American colonies that became the U.S. were. Quite simply, The Liberator preferred the British system of government, even as he used the North American term "president" for a country's leader.

As I read about the trials and tribulations of Bolívar, I was impressed with the quality of the writing of this biography, as well as the massive amount of research the author apparently has performed in its execution. I came away knowing a lot more about Simon Bolívar than I did before reading Arana's book.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 5 out of 5]

His troops called him "Iron Ass" because of his equestrian stamina, able to ride for days on end, but lay folks know him as "The Liberator" or "That Asshole", depending on which side of current, screeching Latin American polemics you float down on.
Bolivar was an indisputable powerhouse, a guy who, born into landed riches in what was to become Venezuela, who spent his youth wandering Europe meeting prominent figures of the day and fucking not a few, who returned to his homeland and spent the next few decades throwing off the Spanish yoke, fucking a lot (his true love, his only wife died almost immediately and he spent the next two decades seeking succor in the gracious genitals of the gentry), and trying desperately to forge a unified South American state. He died early, in his 40s, penniless and maligned by all the unappreciative assholes that he'd striven so hard to make independent that his troops called him "Iron Ass".
If you're into South American history, you probably can't avoid reading this book since it seems to be the best English one-volume story of Bolivar, but more than that, Arana does a swell job weaving the larger history of the continent into Bolivar's hard-riding, hard-lovin' life. Nice maps, too!

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grabbed this book because I just don’t know enough about our Latin American history and it promised to fill in some of the gaps. It did though I still have a long way to go before I can honestly say I have any real understanding of the other half of the hemisphere in which I live. I also had a great time reading a first-rate biography about a very interesting life. I say that safe in the knowledge that, at my age, I’m unlikely to be cursed with an interesting life myself.

So who was Simón Bolívar? He was Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte-Andrade y Blanco. Birth certificates must be enormous in that part of the world. He was also one of a handful of people that instantly jump to mind whenever you think of South America. There is a good reason for that. The George Washington of that continent, he was a one-man revolution without whom much of the region might’ve waited another generation or two for independence from Spain. Responsible for the eventual creation of six countries, his name remains a rallying cry to this day. The nations of Bolivia and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and their respective currencies (the Bolivian boliviano and the Venezuelan bolívar), are all named after him. Additionally, most cities and towns in Colombia and Venezuela are built around a main square known as Plaza Bolívar. A forest of monuments to him can be found across much of Latin America and the rest of the world. Towns, counties, ships, and a host of geological features all across the hemisphere have also been named after him. Multiple governments, over the centuries, have utilized his memory, image and written legacy in their political messages and propaganda. I could go on but, suffice it to say that this guy is really, really famous and historically significant.

Simón Bolívar fought 472 battles and during his campaigns rode on horseback ten times farther than Hannibal, three times farther than Napoleon, and twice as far as Alexander the Great. If you’re going to read a biography of it important Latin American figure, his name is as good as any to top that list.

Enough of the fun facts. Was this a good biography? Absolutely! This was a well-written and thoroughly engaging account. After having read this book, I wonder if it’s possible to write a boring biography about such an action-packed life. If it is, Marie Arana sure didn’t do it here. This is a page-turner and I had as good a time with that is any biography I’ve read so far.

I’ve given this one five stars and I haven’t done it lightly. I’ve also considered the possibility that the sheer importance of Simón Bolívar to the history of the world may have influenced me but it doesn’t change the fact that this is a terrific biography. If you like these sorts of books, you’ll love this and you’ll feel so much smarter and well-informed when you’re done.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was serendipity in the form of a Goodreads New Releases mailer that brought this book to my attention. I've been curious about the famous South American "Liberator" for some time now, and, then, there it was featured by the awesome editorial team: a new biography!

Bolívar led a pretty interesting life. The son of a very wealthy Venezuelan family, he lost both his parents and a brother very young. As an orphan, he was passed around from one relative to another, all of whom were more interested in his wealth than in his well-being. Nonetheless, he received a first class education and got the opportunity to travel wildly, particularly to Napoleon's france. It was in Europe that Simón met the love of his life and discovered his true calling. Blah blah blah. A lot happened, including bloody and protracted wars of independence. In short, the whole reason why he's famous. You'll want to read the book for the nitty gritty.

While I really enjoyed the history here, and the intimate portrayal of this iconic personage, what most fascinated me was the way he really is the template for so much of what we associate with Gabriel Garcia Marquez's infamous South American dictators. He's fiery, impulsive, at once an autocratic ruler and a man philosophically opposed to dictatorship or any whiff of a monarchy. It's no coincidence, of course. Garcia Marquez wrote a whole historical novel chronicling The Liberator's final voyage.

Still, the time didn't come alive for me. While reading this I kept having to remind myself that all this actually happened, that it wasn't a novel. Partly, it's my ignorance of South American history, but I think it's partly also the book's tone. It just felt a lot less weighty than some of the other histories I've read recently. I wish I could be more specific with my criticism there, but unfortunately, I can't point to any one thing in the text. I'm curious to hear what other readers, who are more familiar with the history, think about this.

My take away: Why don't more people in this country know about Simón Bolívar? He pulled off something way more impressive than Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan or Napoleon - certainly something more impressive than the (North) American Revolutionary War. He either directly or indirectly freed an entire continent from Spanish colonial rule. And he did it with a truly integrated military force, drawing on a vast diversity of race, culture and class.

Recommended for fans of Latin American history, military history and history in general.

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[Igor Ljubuncic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, fresh and unique.

This book about the life of Simon Bolivar is nothing short of extraordinary. While it's a history book, it's written almost like a fiction work, with lots of intimate to and fro, letters, quotes, and sayings from people from the era, making you feel like you're living the late 18th and early 19th century in the Spanish imperial colonies in South America.

Apart from the super-detailed and super-interesting story of the actual liberation itself, Marie also covers the personal aspects of Bolivar's life, and this is what makes the book extra fun. We get a glimpse into the social life (and activities) of the rich in Paris and London, the many dalliances and love affairs, the bickering, the tantrums. It's all there, a rich soap opera of passion and infidelities and treacheries. All of it shows how eerily identical people were 200 years ago to what we have now. Only the technology has changed a little. So yes, Bolivar was a randy fella.

Bolivar's intelligence and almost prophetic understanding of the South American societies are also fascinating. He knew what would happen - and it did happen - he predicted roughly 150 years of politics.

The book is also a nice departure from the recent spate of European history works I've read, and while it does concern Europe, it's nice to see how only a few generations of separation can create a complete (new) identity, similar to what happened in North America.

The only negative is that sometimes, things can be a little jumbled, as we have history pieced from written evidence, so when it comes to battles and campaigns, here and there you get an odd inconsistency. Other than that, I've got only praise.

Uber recommended.

Igor

[Rebecca Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this at the same time as my friend Trevor. It's fun to have a work colleague who can get into a nerdy historical deep-dive! Anyway, this was a great book about one of the most remarkable people of the 19th century and from the Americas in any century. What a dashing, heroic, strange larger-than-life. I found this book to be a little too long, but at the same time I would have liked more historical context regarding the countries that Bolívar liberated. They were all ruled by Spain, but they had very different experiences of that. I was surprised to learn that Spain prevented its overseas territories from communicating amongst themselves! Next-door neighbors had a better idea of what was happening in Europe than a few hundred miles away. I think my biggest takeaway from this book is that I would love, as soon as possible, to read a biography of Manuela Sáenz, who was even more outlandish, heroic, and creative than Bolívar himself.

[Thomas H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant read, one of the few comprehensive and easily available books on Bolivar in English, and with a good audio reading to boot! I have a few gripes regarding the introduction and conclusion (is it really 'wrong' per se, either to his supporters or detractors, that Chavez saw himself in Bolivar? After all, there are similarities in their weaknesses!), but until there are more books on Bolivar in the English language, this will remain the definitive enjoyable biography of his life.

It is written engagingly, sometimes beautifully. It is necessary, because most English readers who haven't had a reason to delve into this era of Latin American history before, will find most of the names unfamiliar. Arana makes this learning process as easy as can be imagined, and that's the true merit of her book. It serves as a enticing gateway to further reading on Latin American history!

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been wanting to read a biography of Bolívar for a while now, and this one by Marie Arana fit the bill perfectly, detailing each of his his conquests—military, political and romantic.

Arana displays a clear-eyed and realistic view of the Liberator, describing what made him truly remarkable without glossing over his failures. She calls out his involvement in a number of atrocities, but also points out the extenuating circumstances that may have made his sometimes brutal command necessary.

Overall this was a very-well written and balanced biography of one the most important figures in the history of the Americas.

Here are a few choice excerpts from the epilogue:

“Bolívar died reviled, misunderstood, slandered in every republic he had liberated. For all the wealth into which he had been born, he died a pauper. For all the treasuries he had commanded, he had eschewed financial reward. He departed this life penniless, powerless, dispossessed.”
[…]

“Dead, Bolívar became less man than symbol. As the years went by—as chaos continued to plague the region, South Americans recalled the extraordinary feat of freeing so many nations in so dire a time. His failures as a politician receded. His successes as a liberator took center stage. Indeed, the accomplishments were irrefutable. It was he who had disseminated the spirit of the Enlightenment, brought the promise of democracy to the hinterlands, opened the minds and hearts of Latin Americans to what they might become. It was he who, with a higher moral instinct than even Washington or Jefferson, saw the absurdity of embarking on a war for liberty without first emancipating his own slaves. It was he who had led the armies, slept on the ground with his soldiers, fretted about their horses, their bullets, their maps, their blankets—inspired men to unimaginable heroism... never before in the history of the Americas had one man’s will transformed so much territory, united so many races. Never had Latin America dreamed so large.

“But in the course of forging a new world, compromises had been made. More than once, Bolívar found himself tossing ideals by the wayside. As he rode through the roiling hell of a brutal war, through the abattoirs of improvised military justice, he didn’t always have the luxury of employing the principles he so eloquently espoused.”
[…]

“Countless dictators who came after independence tried to manipulate Bolívar’s image in some way in the process of burnishing their own. Bolívar purported to hate dictatorships—he claimed he had taken them on only for limited periods and as necessary expedients—but there is little doubt that he created the mythic creature that the Latin American dictator became.”
[…]

“In many ways, the revolution is still afoot in Latin America. Although Bolívar’s name has been conjured by every -ism that succeeded him, his burning ideals seemed lost in the bedlam that ensued. Principles of the Enlightenment were cast aside as rich whites scrambled to appropriate the wealth and power the Spanish overlords had left behind. Equality, which Bolívar had insisted was the linchpin of justice, was quickly replaced by a virulent racism. The rule of law—indispensable to a free people—was abandoned as one dictator after another rewrote laws according to his caprices. Democracy, equality, fraternity: these were slow to come to South America. Unity, which might have made the continent a mighty force, was never realized. And yet Bolívar’s dream never would die.

“Perhaps that is because his life has always spoken so clearly to the Latin American people. Here is an all too imperfect man who, with sheer will, a keen mind, an ardent heart, and admirable disinterest carried a revolution to far corners of his continent. Here is a leader whom fate presented with one opportunity and a glut of insuperable hurdles. A general betrayed by his officers; a strategist who had no equals on whom he could rely; a head of state who oversaw nothing that resembled a vigorous, unified team of rivals. With a stamina that is arguably unmatched in history, he prosecuted a seemingly unwinnable war over the harshest of terrains to shuck the formidable banner of Pizarro. From Haiti to Potosí, there was little that stopped him. On he rode, into the void, fighting against unimaginable odds. Until he remade a world.”

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

O carte exceptionala ce descrie viata si cariera lui Simon de Bolivar cel ce a eliberat America de Sud de sub secole de dominatie spaniola.

Simon de Bolivar este cunoscut si ca Washington al continentului sud american. Nu sunt de acord. Este mult peste Washington !

Daca in revolutia americana avem multiple personalitati cheie ce au asigurat o coeziune si o cauza comuna impotriva imperiului britanic, in America de Sud, Bolivar a fost mai mult sau mai putin singur in a sa cruciada impotriva Spaniei, ducand de unul sigur cu o energie si un elan nemaiintalnit greul.

Populatia din America de Sud, geografia si mentalitatile sunt mult prea diverse.
Notiune de bine colectiv , stat de drept si lege nu existau in secolul XIX in SA si nici in ziua de azi nu s-a ajuns la un nivel acceptabil in multe tari.

Pe langa faptul ca a dus un razboi de aproximativ 20 de ani impotriva spaniolilor calarind (~75000km) prin munti , razbind prin jungle , fluvii , cetati fortificate, cea mai mare provocare au reprezentat-o oamenii pe care trebuia sa ii uneasca. A trebuit sa negocieze sa inchida si sa execute foarte multi generali si guvernatori , oameni in subordine, oameni duplicitari , mandri si de cele mai multe ori , la cel mai mic semn de slabiciune de-a dreptul tradatori.

Bolivar nu a fost ca Washington care l-a avut pe Hamilton ca om in subordine pe care se putea baza in permanenta, nu a avut oameni (cu exceptia lui Sucre mai tarziu) pe care ii putea lasa de capul lor sa guverneze. Trebuia in permanenta sa revina , sa pacifice , sa dea dispozitii sa fie si putere legislativa si judecatoreasca si executiva.


Poate cea mai interesanta parte din aceasta carte este finalul si epilogul.
In ciuda meritelor sale incontestabile in final dusmanii sai mediocri l-au atacat din toate partile , in ciuda faptului ca a eliberat Venezuela , Columbia , Peru , Ecuador, Bolivia si Panama, in ciuda faptului ca toate economiile sale le-a dedicat campaniei sale , a refuzat sa primeasca indemnizatii , in final toti l-au alungat, i-au barat intrarea in tarile lor , a ranas singur si sarac , bolnav de tuberculoza , nevoit sa se refugieze in Caraibe si sa moara .
Abia dupa moartea si-au dat seama urangutanii ce au facut...si ce au pierdut...dintr-o data din persoana non-grata a devenit un idol , ideile sale fiind repurtate de generali , guvernatori , figuri religioase , profesori , mii de carti scrise pe seama sa .....

Am fost de-a dreptul scarbit de-a lungul cartii de conationalii sai, de sud americani , iar la final scarba s-a trabsformat intr-i puternica greata , modul in care prostia, trufia, mediocritatea, ingratitudinea reusesc sa omoare spiritul unui titan precum Bolivar.


Bolivar a fost un vizionar, un spirit luminat, un spirit neinteles pentru vremea lui.
Pentru mine viata lui a fost o tragedie...


O carte superba, o carte ce descrie atat razboiul de eliberare cat si geopolitica primei jumatati a secolului XIX, relatiile cu Anglia , Franta , SUA, relatiile cu statele din Sudul americii de sud si cum au fost acestea eliberate de San Martin si multe altele.

Carte de 5* fara doar si poate !

[Dana Sweeney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really engaging and thorough biography for readers who want an overview of Bolivar's life. I went into this read knowing little about Bolivar: he was more myth than man in the scant education I had received on his life and accomplishments. This book brings him back down to earth and does a decent job of building out the context of the time and place that he lived, which is especially helpful for readers like me who are not close students of South American histories. In other words, I think it's a good place to start.

There was lots that surprised me about Bolivar in this book and that did not match the mythology about him that I had encountered before. Far from being the champion of democracy for which his memory is often invoked today, Bolivar mistrusted everyday people and was skeptical of democracy as a form of government in South America. He articulated, fought for, and built governing models with highly centralized power structures. And while always dreaming of a contiguous Gran Colombia, his vision for pan-American state unity and consolidation was not as static or encompassing as I had originally (mistakenly) believed. It was an evolving ambition in every way.

But other things surprised me as well, many of which returned me to the question: how did I not learn more about Bolivar and South American history in school growing up? Bolivar is an enormously consequential figure in global history: his war efforts eradicated the Spanish empire from the western hemisphere and led to the creation of six modern-day nation states. Moreover, his military campaigns covered substantially more ground than Napoleon, Hannibal, or even Alexander the Great. And in contrast to the much-vaunted and misremembered revolutionary counterparts in the United States, Bolivar possessed a surprisingly lucid and forceful critique of the American Revolution's maintenance of slavery that he brought to his own, far more racially egalitarian revolutionary efforts. The fact that a person who played such a monumental role in shaping the world we live in today -- and who was a critic and contemporary of American revolutionaries -- should be off the syllabus seems a grave omission.

Bolivar is complicated and connected to much of the modern world. I learned a lot -- partially because it was a good biography, partially because I had almost no foundation of knowledge at the beginning of reading. Knocking off a star because Arana takes the liberty of editorializing some of her own political criticism in the epilogue, which struck me as out of place and disconcerting after what had seemed like a pretty even-handed book. But, it was well worth the read, and has pointed me to further reading.

[Nikhil Krishnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liberty. Justice. Freedom. Unity.

Words that have very different meanings upon the field of battle and in the halls of government, as Bolivar was soon to realise. A man rightly hailed as the Liberator for expelling the Spanish from his homeland, Bolivar's dream of a Federation of the Andes would never come to pass because he insisted on never taking the crown or the dictatorships of all the nations he freed. This was a man who was ambivalent about Napoleon - Rightly so, since his life mirrored the Frenchman in several ways and differed starkly in others. A clear description of the battles and the personal life of Bolivar is presented with much colour, which is to be lauded. I'm surprised that San Martin never features much in world history today.

The author does seem to have a bias towards Lima with her grandiose titles for it and sometimes portrays incorrect facts - Bolivar most certainly did not hold power in a region larger than modern Europe. But for all its flaws, this is a riveting tale of a man who dreamt of a new America and molded it in his vision as much as he dared and left a lasting legacy in his wake.

[Aaron Arnold · Rating 4 out of 5]

If, like me, you don't know too much about Simón Bolívar even though the guy has entire countries and political movements and so on named after him, then this biography is a good place to start. It ably covers all the standard origins + activities + who he banged + legacy stuff, although I found the international context a little lacking, in that I would have appreciated a little more quantification of the comparison between Bolívar's liberation efforts and someone like George Washington's, or even Napoleon's. Arana is at pains to mention that Bolívar's job was, on paper, even more difficult than Washington's, but you don't feel like you really grasp why South American society was so much more difficult to unify than North America's was, except at the most basic level, because the main character of this book is Bolívar, and the continent is merely a background for him to run around on.

Speaking of international comparisons, it's tempting to play armchair quarterback since Bolívar's Gran Colombia fell apart instantly whereas Washington's United States did not. While granting that the geographically vaster, more racially and economically mixed lands of South America would be way tougher for any one to liberate and administrate (and keeping in mind that those two skills are very rarely combined in one person anyway), it seems like Bolívar would have benefited from following a few management/leadership guidelines:
- Try to keep your womanizing separate from your revolutionizing. There's one part where Bolívar holds up an entire invasion fleet that's halfway to its goal for three days so that he can retrieve his mistress Pepita from her island and then sleep with her while everyone sits around and twiddles their thumbs. Later in the book his "permanent mistress" Manuela becomes a politically divisive figure in classic court-politics style. I get that being the father of a nation (or six) has its privileges, but try to keep your eye on the prize.
- Don't retain and promote provably disloyal subordinates. The second half of the book, and even to some extent the first half as well, is an endless string of betrayals, backstabbings, and double crosses, to the point where it seems like the only one who didn't turn against Bolívar is his manservant. I don't know if the historical record is just spotty, or if Arana is garbling everyone's motives, or what, but it certainly seems like Bolívar could have avoided a lot of heartache by refusing to hand out amnesties like candy and just straight up exiling/executing high-level malcontents. I get that forgiveness is a good way to retain support from crucial allies, but there's got to be a point where you realize that you're just setting yourself up for yet another rebellion/coup/assassination attempt a year down the line.
- To that end, be vigilant about your underlings' independent means of support. One of the interesting things that Cyrus the Great did in Persia, with a similarly large and ethnically varied empire, was to post administrators in different parts of the empire than they were from, so that they couldn't build their own power bases. Mixing the various elites of Peru, New Granada, Venezuela, etc., might have led to a greater feeling of continental solidarity. Of course the US also had its own problems with federalism that wouldn't get even partially resolved until the Civil War, but it's important to do what you can to make your administrators feel like your empire is better to administrate than to liquidate.
- Don't waste too much time on paperwork. After about the third or fourth one, you get the impression that Bolívar was addicted to constitutional conventions. While legal institutions are very important (as he himself predicted, Napoleon's civil code has outlasted his empire by centuries), getting bogged down in minutiae can be lethal, especially when there are more pressing matters to attend to, like enemy armies or the collapsing economy. Additionally, Bolívar's attempt to include a President-for-life in his constitution is so stupid it beggars belief - try not to throw out your single selling point over the monarchy you just overthrew!

Still, for all his faults, Bolívar comes across as an incredible figure, and it's hard to make the argument that anyone else could have achieved any more than he did. Now that UNASUR is slowly becoming a reality, he's one of those rare figures who you can truly say was ahead of his time.