I Embrace You with All My Revolutionary Fervor: Letters 1947–1967

Arrogant, affectionate, and dogmatic, Guevara (1928–1967) is intimately revealed in this compilation of personal letters sent over the latter half of his extraordinary life. In the introduction, his daughter, Aleida Guevara, writes that unlike his meticulously planned fiery speeches, Che was more open in correspondence with friends and family. Spanning 20 years, these letters reflect that earnestness, following him from his teenage years to his impassioned farewells to those he left behind in Cuba just days before he was killed in 1967. He dutifully updates his mother on his health, teases a favorite aunt, and berates his wife, all while bearing a Zelig-like witness to the hemisphere’s defining political upheavals. His missives don’t mince words, either, especially when it comes to criticizing the government apparatus that followed the guerilla victory led by himself and Fidel Castro. In one letter—written just before he leaves Cuba in 1965 to fight for socialism in Africa—Che outlines to Castro the multiple problems he perceives with the state’s transition to socialism, surmising “everyone involved in the management of the national economy... feels very disillusioned.” This offers a thrilling, eyewitness account of battles whose repercussions still reverberate today. (Oct.)