"This biography of Ernesto Che Guevara (1928-1967) provides a penetrating look at the revolutionary leader who remains one of the most provocative and important political figures of the tumultuous 1960s. In a revelatory examination of Guevara's formative years and his family life in Argentina, James recounts how Guevara was particularly influenced by his mother, whose political views helped forge the revolutionary consciousness that would leave such a significant imprint on the times.

The author describes how, within six years, Guevara evolved from a medical school graduate to a full-blown revolutionary and how he became a crucial figure in the Cuban revolution as well as in insurgent communist movements in the Congo and Bolivia.".

"James analyzes the rebel icon's life and career with a critical acumen and unsparing perspective distinct from other Guevara biographers. James was the first to note that Guevara enthusiastically endorsed the many executions of anti-Castro Cubans that followed Castro's victory in 1969. It was an irony that Guevara himself recognized as he was about to be executed in Bolivia in 1967, betrayed by the people he had come to liberate, but had fatally misread.

This biography, based on numerous interviews and access to family members, also provides an intimate glimpse into Guevara's last desperate days and hours, and into the international political maneuverings that followed his execution by the Bolivian army."--BOOK JACKET.