In this "informative and inspiring volume" Chicago Tribune,
Robert Harvey reconstructs in vivid detail the gripping story of
Latin America''s independence and those who made it possible.
Treated with contempt by their Spanish overlords, given to
dissipation and grandiose proclamations, these fearless men
nonetheless achieved military feats unsurpassed elsewhere in
history. The aristocratic Simón Bolívar led his guerilla armies
through swamp, jungle, and Andean ice to surprise his enemies and
liberate most of northern South America. The inarticulate San
Martín joined Bernardo O''Higgins, illegitimate son of a Spanish
viceroy, to do the same in the south. These and five others waged
the war for freedom against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars,
the American Revolution, the collapse of the Spanish Empire, and
the revolutionary ferment of the nineteenth century. Despite the
success of their revolutions, all seven liberators died in poverty,
disgrace, or oblivion.
This fascinating and dramatic story takes in a vast range of
martial experience, from butchery in the torrid Orinoco basin to a
cavalry fought with lances 13,000 feet up in the mountains of Peru.
It is one of the greatest and least-known epics of history, told
here in unprecedented detail.
"A splendid old-fashioned read for those who like their history
rich and romantic." Foreign Affairs
"Liberators is a lively, engaging introduction to a great turning
point in the history of our hemispheric mates." Houston
Chronicle
關於作者:
Robert Harvey is a distinguished journalist and former member
of Parliament. He is the author of numerous books including, most
recently, A Few Bloody Noses: The Realities and Mythologies of
the American Revolution.