Bolivar

by Emil Ludwig

Ludwig traza aquí la figura de Simón Bolívar, “El Libertador”, el hombre que a lo largo de su vida ha luchado por romper las cadenas que oprimían a los americanos por la voluntad del poder español. En este libro se habla escasamente de batallas, porque el autor se ha preocupado más en recrear la historia psicológica de Bolívar para resucitar su figura. Ludwig se pregunta sobre aquellos aspectos de su alma que aún pueden sintonizar con nuestra época, y analiza todas las etapas de un espíritu romántico, exaltado y con deseos de justicia.

Genres: History

332 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Emil Ludwig (originally named Emil Cohn) was born in Breslau, now part of Poland. Ludwig studied law but chose writing as a career. At first he wrote plays and novella, but also worked as a journalist. In 1906, he moved to Switzerland, but, during World War I, he worked as a foreign correspondent for the Berliner Tageblatt in Vienna and Istanbul. He became a Swiss citizen in 1932, later emigrating to the United States in 1940.

At the end of the Second World War, he went to Germany as a journalist, and it is to him that we owe the retrieving of Goethe's and Schiller's coffins, which had disappeared from Weimar in 1943/44. He returned to Switzerland after the war and died in 1948, in Moscia, near Ascona.

During the 1920s, he achieved international fame for his popular biographies which combined historical fact and fiction with psychological analysis. After his biography of Goethe was published in 1920, he wrote several similar biographies, including one about Bismarck (1922–24) and another about Jesus (1928). As Ludwig's biographies were popular outside of Germany and were widely translated, he was one of the fortunate émigrés who had an income while living in the United States. His writings were considered particularly dangerous by Goebbels, who mentioned him in his journal.

Ludwig interviewed Benito Mussolini and on December 1, 1929 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. His interview with the founder of the Republic of Turkey appeared in Wiener Freie Presse in March 1930, addressing issues of religion and music. He also interviewed Joseph Stalin in Moscow on December 13, 1931. An excerpt from this interview is included in Stalin's book on Lenin. Ludwig describes this interview in his biography of Stalin. What was originally an omitted section of the interview by Joseph Stalin himself, Professor of Montclair State University Grover Furr had finally published an English version of it.

Ludwig's extended interviews with T.G. Masaryk, founder and longtime president of Czechoslovakia, appeared as Defender of Democracy in 1936.

Reviews

[El Bibliófilo · Rating 5 out of 5]

En el enlace mis mejores comentarios: https://youtu.be/o1UJCPxjREk
La figura de Bolívar es inmensa, y Emil Ludwig nos presenta una caracterización sorprendente, pues nos presenta al libertador como un poeta. ¿Es un poeta? Vamos a recorrer la descripción del famoso biógrafo, ver por qué surge tan descollante su figura, y así podrán determinar qué tanto usaron los realizadores de la famosa serie “Bolívar” el material de la presente obra. ¿Fuimos las naciones hijas de Bolívar ingratas con su libertador? ¿Estábamos preparados para nuestra independencia? Recorriendo la vida del caudillo, podremos entender nuestra historia. Por algo está Bolívar al lado de Washington y Napoleón en el Partenón de los grandes estadistas.

[Dayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to read an Emil Ludwig book, and I didn't want to start with his Ludwig's book about Queen Victoria.

En route to a cruise ship destined to round Cape Horn, I struck up a conversation with a fellow passenger heading to Santiago, Chile, where the cruise would start.

But, learn from my mistake, and don't EVEN think about talking about the marvelous anti-colonization hero of New Granada (1819), Venezuela (1821), Quito (1822), and Peru (1824). Chileans like heroes from Chile and at times, Argentina, but that is it.

In a way, it reminded me of a Hawaiian fifth grade teacher who hated to teach "Manifest Destiny" because, she felt that the Hawaiian queen, Liliuokalani, original name Lydia Kamakaeha, who was deposed by a coup led by American sugar planters and died in 1917. Liliuokalani is gone, but is by no means forgotten. Every Nov. 11, the last monarch of Hawaiʻi is still celebrated.

[José Ruiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

¿Fué Bolívar, dictador por convicción o por necesidad?
¿Quien triunfo en su alma, Rousseau o Napoleón?
¿Por qué fracaso el suelo de Bolívar de un país Panamericano?
Emil Ludwing expone el alma y la personalidad de Bolívar, desde su nacimiento hasta la muerte.
Este libro no se trata de guerras o batallas, más expone los innumerables conflictos externos e internos que Bolívar tuvo que sortear a lo largo de su vida militar y política.
Nos muestra a un Bolivar en su dimensión humana, sus sufrimientos, sus alegrías y la gran decepción que se llevó a la tumba al saber a ciencia cierta que su sueño unificador quedaría, destruido desde el Memento mismo de su muerte.
Recomiendo este libro para quienes quieren tratar de entender a Bolívar desde una perspectiva más humana y menos épica.

[Sebastián Chapela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lento. Basado en evidencia epistolar. Se sumerge en la personalidad del prócer. Poco describe de la historia de emancipación de la cual fue protagonista.

[Levon Ghukasyan]

good book