Book Review: Che Guevara: a Revolutionary Life by Jon Lee Anderson

This is a hell of a book, both in length and content! I enjoyed getting a clear and ample picture of such a mythologized human being. Even as a Spanish major, I didn’t hear very much about Che, other than that he wanted to be the new Bolívar and he was Castro’s right-hand man. Anderson provides quite a balanced view of Che, including things that are not included in the officially-sanctioned Cuban biographies, but not vilifying the revolutionary idealist, either.  
Also, in USA, we tend to only hear about Che and Castro through the anti-Communist, Cold War Era lens. I also learned a lot about communism and its implementation in various countries throughout the world. I really had no idea of the squabbling that went on between the Chinese and Soviets regarding the “right” type of communism.
This monster of a biography took me a while to get through, and I was getting tired around page 650 or so. It’s well worth the struggle, though. If you were totally stoked on The Motorcycle Diaries then you will probably have a desire to check this book out. However, desiring to read it and actually finishing it are two different things. Best of luck!