A new, revised and expanded edition of an Ocean Press classic.

This reader is the bestselling, most comprehensive selection of Che Guevara's writings, letters and speeches available in English. This volume covers Che's writings on the Cuban revolutionary war, the first years of the revolution in Cuba and his vision for Latin America and the Third World. It includes such classic essays as "Socialism and Man in Cuba" and his call to create "Two, Three, Many Vietnams."

Among the features of this expanded edition are several unpublished articles, essays and letters, including a letter from Che to his children shortly before his death in Bolivia in 1967 and an essay, "Strategy and tactics for the Latin American revolution."

This new edition of a popular Ocean title is published in collaboration with the Che Guevara Archive in Havana. It includes:
a new 24-page selection of photos (many previously unpublished)
an expanded and revised chronology
complete bibliography of the works of Che Guevara
new, extensive annotation and index

"Deep inside the T-shirt where we have tried to trap him the eyes of Che Guevara are still burning with im-patience." -- Ariel Dorfman

Two new movies to be released in Fall 2003 confirm Che's enduring status as an "icon of the century."
Ocean Press is preparing a range of merchandise, including T-shirts, bookmarks and posters to promote our books on Che Guevara.

This new, expanded edition of an Ocean Press classic complements several bestselling biographies of Che Guevara.

Che Guevara has been so etched into the public consciousness as an icon of revolution, rebellion and guerrilla warfare that it is easy for many to forget about the more intellectual aspects of the man. The "Che Guevara Reader" is the perfect tool to really study and learn the ideas behind Guevara's quest for Latin American unity against imperialism, poverty and racism. The depth of thought and analysis will be stunning to many, there are passages where Guevara writes and expresses at a level worthy of Noam Chomsky. Here we see that the man was no joke, there were very real philosophies behind his drive for revolution. The book covers Che's writings from the time of the Cuban guerrilla war against the U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship to his various speeched as Cuba's ambassador to the world. Among the most powerful pieces are his speeched at such forums as the United Nations, where Guevara gives an angry, heartfelt summary of the suffering felt in the Americas at the hands of imperialism and how the people will rise. When one looks at current events in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, there is more resonance to a passage where Che states, "our example will bear fruit." Some of the most fascinating passages in the book deal with the concepts behind social progress and unity, where Che stresses the need to work as one and not give in to shallow materialism. Che especially focuses on the need for education to build a stronger system and build social consciousness. Che and Fidel bashers will be infuriated by sections where Guevara clearly states that not ALL aspects of Marxism work for a society, destroying the myth of Che being a radical dogmatic Communist. There are also interesting speeches where Guevara expresses the need to analyze what kind of revolution every country needs, what worked in Cuba might not work for example, in Chile where the people elected Salvador Allende without having to resort to a guerrilla war, interestingly Latin America's recent tilt to the Left has been driven mostly be democratic elections as well. There is also a wonderful depth of feeling in writings where Che states the need for a true revolutionary to have a sense of love, real, true love and not pure cold calculation. The most rewarding experience of reading the "Che Guevara Reader" is realizing how important these ideas are for our times as well when corporate ideals have monopolized our industrial nations and created a huge gap between the poor and rich. Some will be surprised to find only a fraction of this book dedicated to pure guerrilla warfare talk (for that check Guevara's "Guerrilla Warfare") and a good 90% dedicated to discussions on society, people and the need for true social reforms in the face of tyrannical capitalism and social inequality. A valuable book so you can wear the T-shirt, but know the philosophy as well.

Good book, but be prepared. Che was a failure as a guerrilla leader because he refused to accept the possibility that a revolution could begin and end in major population centers. He reallty didn't have many wins to his favor when he was in charge.

This is a good book if you want to know about Che's Marxists theories and if you want to know some of his views on the world during his time. But this book (though it is good) only scratches the surface a good portion of these speeches and essays have been published in many other books what the editor should've done was published parts of Che's critique of the Soviet Union that Castro has hidden away,printed parts of his congo book and sections from the Bolivian Diary, and more sections from the nine volume Che Guevara writing and speeches then this book would worthy of the title Che Guevara Reader

Mr. Deutschmann:

On page 13 you write:

"April 1, 1965 Guevara delivers a farewell letter to Fidel Castro.....Guevara operates under the name Tatu, Swahili for "Number two."

I dont know where you got this quote of "Number two." from, but Tatu in Swahili stands for Number three. Number two is Mbiri.

Thank you.

this book is a great collection of various writings and speeches by ernesto che guevara. it contains some entries in his diary of the cuban revolution, speeches he gave internationally and in cuba, and letters he wrote to people close to him. it's an interesting collection of his stuff, which is actually pretty hard to get a hold of. so if you see this book, and your interested in che, grab it, because i really had to look around for this one.