Bol%C3%ADvar: The Liberator of Latin America

The last of the truly great military commanders before the advent of modern, impersonal warfare, Sim%C3%B3n Bol%C3%ADvar led his men through thousands of miles of nearly impassable terrain, undeterred by shattering defeats and unimaginable privations, to liberate six countries from the Spanish Empire. Harvey painstakingly recounts Bol%C3%ADvar's victory against seemingly impossible odds and his subsequent descent into the type of megalomaniacal tyranny against which he had fought. Harvey (Liberators), a former British MP and columnist for the Daily Telegraph, makes extensive use of primary sources to chronicle the trials of Bol%C3%ADvar's men, crafting a narrative that is granular in its focus on the war's day-by-day progress while remaining cognizant of the grand sweep of history. The book's single-minded attention to tactical matters and military maneuvers, however, is sometimes reminiscent of the box score of a baseball game, and often leaves the reader wanting more about the human culture of the region and the consequences of imperialism and conquest. It is a testament to Harvey's skill that his account of alliances and betrayals, deceptions and grisly executions, liberally interspersed with details of Bol%C3%ADvar's many love affairs, remains gripping and illuminates something of the leader's contradictory personality. 24 b&w illus. (June)