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  • Bolivar

  • American Liberator
  • By: Marie Arana
  • Narrated by: David Crommett
  • Length: 20 hrs and 11 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (9 ratings)

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Bolivar

By: Marie Arana
Narrated by: David Crommett
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Publisher's Summary

It is astonishing that Simón Bolívar, the great Liberator of South America, is not better known in the United States. He freed six countries from Spanish rule, traveled more than 75,000 miles on horseback to do so, 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 who held up the revolution and another who saved his life), and he died relatively young, uncertain whether his achievements would endure.

Drawing on a wealth of primary documents, novelist and journalist Marie Arana brilliantly captures early 19th-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.

©2013 Marie Arana (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good but Superficial

This book gave a pretty good overview of not only Simon Bolivar's life but the period he lived in. It was well written and there wasn't any overt ideological bias that makes some biographies unreadable. The only thing the book lacked was a really critical analysis of the decisions that he made.

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  • Reb
  • 26-09-2019

Easy to Follow

Bolivar Is easy to follow. The Netflix series is a little more romantic or idealistic. Not this book. References to other world event help to give clear picture of how things were then in history and how everything was tied together. I found that fascinating.

There are many historical lessons in here and excellent quotes on education and ignorance. How lack of education is used to controlled exploit a group of people. The cruelty disguised as religion/righteousness. Slavery/Abolition. Racism. Corruption. Greed. Power hunger. Its all here.

Narrator does excellent job.

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