These fascinating travel diaries chronicle a crucial period in Che Guevara's young life; his transformation from a raw idealist to the revolutionary known to history.
In 1953, when the 25-year-old Che set off on a voyage from Buenos Aires to Mexico, it was to explore his cultural heritage, to understand what it meant to be Latin American. More than any other Cuban revolutionary, he regarded himself as a "continental", and so, as he explored South America, he was careful to see everything: the mountains and deserts of Bolivia, the Inca remains at Macchu Picchu and Cuzco, the forests of Guatemala. He met his first wife in Honduras, witnessed the CIA overthrow of Arbenz's socialist government in Guatemala, he sailed up the Pacific Coast from Ecuador to Panama; and, climactically, he was introduced to Fidel Castro in Mexico.
Through his writings, Che reveals himself to be a curious combination of social pioneer and inexhaustible sightseer, political theorist and amateur archaeologist, a forerunner of - and with this book, a guide and inspiration to - the many thousands of explorers of the South American continent who follow in his steps.
Translated from the Spanish by Patrick Camiller, with a Foreword by Guevara's friend and former travelling companion, Alberto Granado.
