{"product_id":"the-che-guevara-reader-isbn-9781644211120","title":"The Che Guevara Reader","description":"\u003cb\u003eSelected writings—speeches, essays, and letters—by one of the most widely known guerilla fighters, political theorists, and organizers, Che Guevara.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWidely revered as a true revolutionary, this collection of writings from Ernesto Che Guevara highlight his principled politics and praxis in the fight against capitalism and US imperialism. Incisive speeches, critical essays, and personal letters not only serve as a primer of the Cuban revolutionary movement, but also analyze the importance of practicing international solidarity, reflect on violent resistance, and explicate the dangerous failures of capitalism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAccompanied by an extensive bibliography of Guevara's writing, a timeline of his life, and an all-encompassing glossary of individuals, organizations, and publications, the Che Guevara Reader provides insights into the historical, political, and cultural context for Guevara's radicalization. From some of his most famous speeches such as \"Create Two, Three, Many Vietnams\" to intimate, personal letters addressed to comrades around the world and his own children, this book extends Che's legacy and paints a stunning picture of a revolutionary struggling for a better world.Ernesto Che Guevara\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction to the second edition \u003ci\u003eby David Deutschmann\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChronology\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePART 1: THE CUBAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelections from Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War\u003cbr\u003e   A revolution begins \u003cbr\u003e   Alegría de Pío \u003cbr\u003e   The battle of La Plata\u003cbr\u003e   A betrayal in the making \u003cbr\u003e   The murdered puppy \u003cbr\u003e   Interlude \u003cbr\u003e   A decisive meeting \u003cbr\u003e   The final offensive and the battle of Santa Clara \u003cbr\u003e   El Patojo \u003cbr\u003eWhat we have learned and what we have taught \u003ci\u003e(December 1958)\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThe essence of guerrilla struggle \u003ci\u003e(1960) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGuerrilla warfare: A method \u003ci\u003e(September 1963) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePART 2: THE CUBA YEARS 1959–65\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSocial ideals of the Rebel Army \u003ci\u003e(January 29, 1959) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePolitical sovereignty and economic independence \u003ci\u003e(March 20, 1960) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSpeech to medical students and health workers \u003ci\u003e(August 20, 1960) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNotes for the study of the ideology of the Cuban Revolution \u003ci\u003e(October 1960) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCuba: Historical exception or vanguard in the anticolonial struggle? \u003ci\u003e(April 9, 1961)\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003eA new culture of work \u003ci\u003e(August 21, 1962) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe cadre: Backbone of the revolution \u003ci\u003e(September 1962) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo be a Young Communist \u003ci\u003e(October 20, 1962) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA party of the working class\u003ci\u003e (1963) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAgainst bureaucratism \u003ci\u003e(February 1963) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the budgetary finance system \u003ci\u003e(February 1964) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSocialism and man in Cuba \u003ci\u003e(1965) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePART 3: INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSpeech to the Latin American youth congress \u003ci\u003e(July 28, 1960) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe OAS conference at Punta del Este \u003ci\u003e(August 8, 1961) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Cuban Revolution’s influence in Latin America \u003ci\u003e(May 18, 1962) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTactics and strategy of the Latin American revolution \u003ci\u003e(October–November 1962) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe philosophy of plunder must cease \u003ci\u003e(March 25, 1964) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the United Nations\u003ci\u003e (December 11, 1964) \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the Afro-Asian conference in Algeria \u003ci\u003e(February 24, 1965)\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003eCreate two, three, many Vietnams (Message to the Tricontinental, \u003ci\u003eApril 1967\u003c\/i\u003e) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePART 4: LETTERS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo José E. Martí Leyva\u003cbr\u003eTo José Tiquet \u003cbr\u003eTo Dr. Fernando Barral \u003cbr\u003eTo Carlos Franqui \u003cbr\u003eTo Guillermo Lorentzen \u003cbr\u003eTo Peter Marucci\u003cbr\u003eTo Dr. Aleida Coto Martínez \u003cbr\u003eTo the \u003ci\u003ecompañeros\u003c\/i\u003e of the Motorcycle Assembly Plant \u003cbr\u003eTo Pablo Díaz González \u003cbr\u003eTo Lydia Ares Rodríguez \u003cbr\u003eTo María Rosario Guevara \u003cbr\u003eTo José Medero Mestre \u003cbr\u003eTo Eduardo B. Ordaz Ducungé \u003cbr\u003eTo Haydée Santamaría \u003cbr\u003eTo Dr. Regino G. Boti \u003cbr\u003eTo Elías Entralgo \u003cbr\u003eTo my children \u003cbr\u003eTo my parents \u003cbr\u003eTo Hildita \u003cbr\u003eTo Fidel Castro \u003cbr\u003eTo my children \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNotes \u003cbr\u003eGlossary \u003cbr\u003eBibliography of Che Guevara’s writings and speeches \u003cbr\u003eIndex\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"If I were to recommend one of Che’s books to readers who want an introduction to his bold ideas, dialectical thinking and his concise yet expressive style, I would recommend this one.\"—Jonah Raskin, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCounterpunch\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eERNESTO GUEVARA DE LA SERNA\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Rosario, Argentina, on June 14, 1928. While studying for a medical degree in Buenos Aires, he took a trip with his friend Alberto Granado on an old Norton motorcycle through all of Latin America, the basis for \u003ci\u003eThe Motorcycle Diaries\u003c\/i\u003e. During his travels he witnessed the Bolivian revolution in 1953; and, in Guatemala in 1954, the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Jacobo Arbenz by US-backed forces. Forced to leave Guatemala, he went to Mexico City, where he linked up with exiled Cuban revolutionaries and met Fidel Castro in 1955. Che joined their expedition to Cuba, where the revolutionary war began in the Sierra Maestra mountains. At first Che was the troop doctor, and later became Rebel Army commander in July 1957.  Following the rebels’ victory on January 1, 1959, he was a key leader of the new revolutionary government and also of the political organization that in 1965 became the Communist Party of Cuba. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDavid Deutschmann\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis expanded edition of a book first published in 1997 on the 30th anniversary of Che Guevara’s death has a simple purpose: to make available to an English-reading audience a selection of articles, speeches and letters by Ernesto Che Guevara. It is not a biography nor a book of reminiscences by others — it is Che Guevara in his own words. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the almost four decades since his death, the world’s image of Che Guevara has become increasingly distorted and somewhat one-dimensional. The romanticized portrait known to many is that of the individual guerrilla fighter — heroic to some, to others an adventurer. His organic connection to the Cuban revolution fades in this picture. His work side by side with Fidel Castro for nearly a decade; his contributions to Marxist theory; his efforts as a government minister in the first years of the new Cuba after the overthrow of the Batista dictatorship; his tireless labor grappling with the problems of guiding the economic development of a backward country besieged and attacked by U.S. imperialism; his championing the interests of the people of Asia, Africa and Latin America — all this is missing from most popular portrayals of Che Guevara outside of Cuba. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is reflected in the fact that for two decades or more after his death his writings were largely unavailable in English. Several collections of speeches by Che were published in the 1960s, but most were long out of print. The 30th anniversary of his death saw several new biographies and many commentaries on his life and death, but still few efforts to publish the ideas of Che himself, in his own words. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis book presents the political lessons drawn by Che Guevara from his experiences and the many tasks that he took on: as Rebel Army commander and strategist of guerrilla warfare; as a leader of the July 26 Movement, which played a central role in the overthrow of the U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship; as head of the National Bank and Ministry of Industry in the new government; as a forger of Cuba’s close ties with liberation movements throughout the African continent; and as a representative of the Cuban government on platforms throughout the world. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a speech given before one million people in Havana on October 18, 1967, at a memorial service for Che Guevara, Cuba’s Fidel Castro placed significant emphasis on the breadth of Guevara’s political contribution: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e“Those who attach significance to the lucky blow that struck Che down try in vain to deny his experience and his capacity as a leader. Che was an extraordinarily able military leader. But when we remember Che, when we think of Che, we do not think fundamentally of his military virtues. No! Warfare is a means and not an end. Warfare is a tool of revolutionaries. The important thing is the revolution. The important thing is the revolutionary cause, revolutionary ideas, revolutionary objectives, revolutionary sentiments, revolutionary virtues! \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAnd it is in that field, in the field of ideas, in the field of sentiments, in the field of revolutionary virtues, in the field of intelligence, that — apart from his military virtues — we feel the tremendous loss that his death means to the revolutionary movement. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChe's extraordinary character was made up of virtues that are rarely found together. He stood out as an unsurpassed person of action, but Che was not only that — he was also a person of visionary intelligence and broad culture, a profound thinker. That is, the man of ideas and the man of action were combined within him. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBut it is not only that Che possessed the double characteristic of the man of ideas — of profound ideas — and the man of action, but that Che as a revolutionary united in himself the virtues that can be defined as the fullest expression of the virtues of a revolutionary: a person of total integrity, a person of supreme sense of honor, of absolute sincerity, a person of stoic and Spartan living habits, a person in whose conduct not one stain can be found. He constituted, through his virtues, what can be called a truly model revolutionary. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBecause of this, he has left to the future generations not only his experience, his knowledge as an outstanding soldier, but also, at the same time, the fruits of his intelligence. He wrote with the virtuosity of a master of our language. His narratives of the war are incomparable. The depth of his thinking is impressive. He never wrote about anything with less than extraordinary seriousness, with less than extraordinary profundity — and we have no doubt that some of his writings will pass on to posterity as classic documents of revolutionary thought. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThus, as fruits of that vigorous and profound intelligence, he left us countless memories, countless narratives that, without his work, without his efforts, might have been lost forever. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAn indefatigable worker, during the years that he served our country he did not know a single day of rest. Many were the responsibilities assigned to him: as President of the National Bank, as director of the Central Planning Board, as Minister of Industry, as commander of military regions, as the head of political or economic or fraternal delegations. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHis versatile intelligence was able to undertake with maximum assurance any task of any kind. Thus he brilliantly represented our country in numerous international conferences, just as he brilliantly led soldiers in combat, just as he was a model worker in charge of any of the institutions he was assigned to. And for him there were no days of rest; for him there were no hours of rest! \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIf we looked through the windows of his offices, he had the lights on all hours of the night, studying, or rather, working or studying. For he was a student of all problems; he was a tireless reader. His thirst for learning was practically insatiable, and the hours he stole from sleep he devoted to study. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHe devoted his scheduled days off to voluntary work. He was the inspiration and provided the greatest incentive for the work that is today carried out by hundreds of thousands of people throughout the country. He stimulated that activity in which our people are making greater and greater efforts. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAs a revolutionary, as a communist revolutionary, a true communist, he had a boundless faith in moral values. He had a boundless faith in the consciousness of human beings. And we should say that he saw, with absolute clarity, the moral impulse as the fundamental lever in the construction of communism in human society. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHe thought, developed, and wrote many things. And on a day like today it should be stated that Che’s writings, Che’s political and revolutionary thought, will be of permanent value to the Cuban revolutionary process and to the Latin American revolutionary process. And we do not doubt that his ideas — as a man of action, as a man of thought, as a person of untarnished moral virtues, as a person of unexcelled human sensitivity, as a person of spotless conduct — have and will continue to have universal value. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe imperialists boast of their triumph at having killed this guerrilla fighter in action. The imperialists boast of a triumphant stroke of luck that led to the elimination of such a formidable man of action. But perhaps the imperialists do not know or pretend not to know that the man of action was only one of the many facets of the personality of that combatant. And if we speak of sorrow, we are saddened not only at having lost a person of action. We are saddened at having lost a person of virtue. We are saddened at having lost a person of unsurpassed human sensitivity. We are saddened at having lost such a mind. We are saddened to think that he was only 39 years old at the time of his death. We are saddened at missing the additional fruits that we would have received from that intelligence and that ever richer experience.”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChe Guevara first left Cuba in April 1965. From that time rumors began to circulate as to his whereabouts. He was “spotted” in almost every country of Latin America while speculation grew that Fidel Castro had eliminated his “rival.” A campaign began — which has managed to survive these past four decades — to separate Guevara from both the Cuban revolution and Fidel Castro. The most powerful and convincing rebuttal to this calumny is provided by Guevara himself in the words of the speeches and writings contained in this selection. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA companion volume to Che Guevara Reader which takes up this theme is Che: A Memoir by Fidel Castro. In the closest thing to a biography of Guevara to yet emerge from Cuba, Fidel Castro writes with candor and affection of his relationship with Guevara. In particular, Castro describes his last days with Che in Cuba, giving a remarkably frank assessment of the Bolivian mission of 1966-67, which resulted in Guevara’s death in October 1967 at the hands of the Bolivian Army acting under the instructions of the Central Intelligence Agency...\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Seven Stories Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301203464421,"sku":"NP9781644211120","price":22.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781644211120.jpg?v=1767738661","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-che-guevara-reader-isbn-9781644211120","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}