Che Guevara You Win Or You Die - Stuart A Kallen (2013).pdf

Publication Date: August 1, 2012
October 9, 1967. World-renowned revolutionary Che Guevara is dead at the age of thirty-nine. The charismatic Argentinian revolutionary had been leading guerilla fighters in the jungles of Bolivia and was captured by the Bolivian army. Mario Terán, a sergeant in the Bolivian army, volunteered to execute the prisoner. He carried out the bloody assignment with nine point-blank shots to Guevara's body. Around the globe, reactions to the assassination were mixed. In Cuba, where Guevara had helped overthrow a brutally repressive dictatorship in 1959, more than a million people mourned openly. But in the United States and elsewhere, many business leaders and government officials were relieved. Guevara's anti-capitalist movement sought to strip big businesses of their land and power. He wanted to set up socialist systems to spread wealth and resources among ordinary workers—in Latin America and all around the world. To the rich and powerful, Guevara was a dangerous threat. Why did the assassination happen? How did the fiercely independent and internationally admired revolutionary leader end his life as a captive in a tiny Bolivian village? Why did he die a hunted man, without a fair trial, at the hands of a Bolivian soldier? How did his story become a legend? In this chronicle of an assassination, find out what inspired the myth of Che Guevara and what brought him to this bloody crossroads of history.

From School Library Journal
Gr 8 Up-Guevara was, and is, an iconic figure of revolutionary movements everywhere. His passion for economic justice was legendary, and his determination to fight capitalism was unwavering. This biography, with a focus on how Guevara grew into his revolutionary ideals, describes a middle-class, educated upbringing that allowed, and encouraged, young Che to explore all avenues, eventually leading to a degree in medicine. Eschewing life as a doctor, he traveled in Latin America, where his encounters with peasants helped form his ideology. In Guatemala he met Fidel Castro, and together they led a bloody, and ultimately successful, revolution against a brutal dictator in Cuba, cementing a global reputation as a hero to some, and an enemy of businesses and capitalism in the United States and its allies. The narrative is accessible and compelling, and a solid introduction to the life and times of Guevara, providing both detail and context to a complicated, thoughtful man. Black-and-white photographs offer a good visual supplement and help explain part of the mystique surrounding the handsome, charismatic Guevara. Extensive back matter, including a Who's Who section and a summarizing time line, will be especially helpful to researchers. A solid choice for any library.-Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MAα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
About the Author
Over the past twenty years, Stuart A. Kallen has written more than 250 nonfiction books for children and young adults. His books have covered many aspects of human history, culture, and science, from the building of the pyramids to the music of the twenty-first century. Some of his recent titles include The Aftermath of the Sandinista Revolution; We Are Not Beasts of Burden: Cesar Chavez and the Delano Grape Strike, California, 1965 1970; Open the Jail Doors--We Want to Enter: The Defiance Campaign Against Apartheid Laws, South Africa, 1952 and The Race to Discover the AIDS Virus: Luc Montagnier vs Robert Gallo. Kallen, who lives in San Diego, California, is also a singer-songwriter and a guitarist.


Library Binding: 88 pages
Publisher: 21st Century (August 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0822590352
ISBN-13: 978-0822590354