There will be blood.

Any additional comments?

I was completely absorbed by this audiobook! As a Venezuelan, I superficially studied Bolívar's life and the War of Independence in school, but the version I learned was very politically correct. This book shows both the strengths and weaknesses of The Liberator, and that made the experience all the more enlightening. I wish this had been available when I was a teenager! Personally, I wasn't aware of how brutal all participating sides had been during the conflict! Yikes! In that sense, this was an eye opener. Yes, there was courage and sacrifice, but also a surreal amount of violence and bloodshed. I was shocked and saddened by this perspective. The book includes a lot of detail without ever being even slightly tedious. No matter where you're from, chances are you'll be similarly fascinated with the history. There's much to learn from it and it would easily make an epic blockbuster movie.

The narrator did a great job, only he constantly mispronounces the name of the city of Coro: the accent is on the first syllable, not the second! This is irritating as the city plays a recurrent role in the life of Bolívar and its name is repeated hundreds of times. Crommett's awful pronunciation of French words (mainly names and cities) is also a bit annoying, but there's a very limited number of these. What's most important is that he reads at a very nice pace (not too slowly or too quickly) and both his English and Spanish are very clear.

63 people found this helpful

This is a must listen-to.

Everything about this story is glorious. Bolivar is a man who should be honored and taught alongside Washington or Alexander the Great in schools. His story is one deserving of legend, and by the end, had me nearly in tears. The narrator does a fantastic job, and the author paints potraits with her words as one would with the finest oils to showcase this figure of history. If you listen to no other book this year, listen to this one.

14 people found this helpful

EXCELLENT BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY!

What made the experience of listening to Bolivar the most enjoyable?

I am a student of Latin American history, and I have never read a better history of Bolivar, the man, his times and the events of the 20 year struggle for independence from Spain and trying to bring democratic order out of the chaos that resulted from the defeat of Spanish forces.

What other book might you compare Bolivar to and why?

Samuel E Morison's "Admiral of the Ocean Seas" about the life of Columbus is the very best biography I have ever read, and it won a Pulitzer. This history and biography of Bolivar was almost on par with that great biography. The author lets us understand the times, the life, the events, and the results of Bolivar's astonishing efforts. Great read, great book.

Have you listened to any of David Crommett’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was a great listen. Easy to listen to and to understand. it is a great story well told.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The amazing life of Bolivar.

Any additional comments?

Recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand modern day Latin America. No one can understand the current conditions of Latin America without understanding its history, Bolivar was a big piece of the history of the land and its people.

12 people found this helpful

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!!!

As good as a history read can be. Due to a life lived as well as person could. I would give 10 stars if I could, for it is not every day that an audio book brings tears to my eyes.
Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!! Viva Bolivar!!!!!

17 people found this helpful

Absolutely fantastic book!

Marie Arana wrote a great biography of Bolivar, she covered not only the positive but the negative aspects of the man. Arana's prose is often beautiful, it is apparently from the writing she is a novelist turned biographer. The story almost reads as a historical novel, she keeps your attention to every word. Arana brings the story to life, the reader feels as if one is there and part of the action. Bolivar was a 19th Century leader, born in Venezuela.
He was born into a wealthy family and received education both in his home country but also in Spain and France. What he accomplished is mind boggling! The military action lasted twice as long as the U.S. revolution and territory cover was 7 times larger. He led both a revolution and a civil war. Bolivar evicted Spain from a million square miles of territory in an eleven year campaign. Battles fought against a trained Spanish army of superior numbers. His army had to go on superhuman marches though rain swollen jungles and over snow-capped Andes Mountains to fight the battles often with only a few days rest. He freed the area now called Venezuela, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. The book explains why Bolivar thought the U.S. type of democracy would not work in South America with it mixed races of creole, indigenous Indians, black slaves, Spanish and other Europeans. Arana explains Bolivar belief, the three hundred years of tyranny by Spain and how, Spain deliberately kept the people un-educated and pitted against each other, were not ready to govern themselves. He thought that at a later date, a British type of government was better, but he made the mistake of setting up the area for rule by dictators . Arana explains how he ended up dying poor and hated by the people but later brought back to hero status. David Crommett did a good job narrating the story and all the Spanish names. If you are interested in history and would like to learn more about our neighbors to the south you will enjoy this book.

21 people found this helpful

Superbly written and narrated

Beautifully written biography of Simon Bolivar was easy to listen to as an audiobook. The story follows in chronological order events in hes life and very descriptive of major battles fought.

6 people found this helpful

Outstanding

All the praise for this book given in the reviews above is well-placed. This is an outstanding work of history, told by Arana with drama, passion, and a keen moral sense. Crommett's narration is superb--his Spanish is near flawless, and he blends the Latin American pronunciations into the stream of his English deftly.

6 people found this helpful

The greatest man South America has ever seen

My South American blood compelled me to pick up this book, little did I know what I was getting.

The immortal hero and the fallible human being is presented in this well researched book that leaves nothing behind and presents it in a beautiful narrative.

outstanding book about a great man

4 people found this helpful

Biased toward Bolivar

Writer strikes me as a Bolivar apologist, not a good thing for a history author.

8 people found this helpful

One of the Legends of the Hemisphere

What did you like best about Bolivar? What did you like least?

Very interesting history of a supremely important figure in history, unfortunately not that well known in the USA. The book gives a fairly comprehensive account of the qualities that made the man who he was, good and bad. The melancholy of losing his young wife, which led him to a life as a liberator (a bit overly romanticized, but it works nonetheless). And the ruthless calculation of a crafted, disingenuous modesty which he repeatedly relies upon to consolidate power. Overall, Bolivar is presented as a tremendously complex, intriguing character.

My only pet peeve about the book was the use of the word American. Being in the title, the reader/listener knows what to expect. And certainly, contemporaneous use of the word by Bolivar and others, to refer the regions outside the USA is historically accurate. But when the author freely uses America, Spanish America, Latin America, South America, and in fact, Venezuela, almost interchangeably, as well as using America and American in specific United States contexts, one starts to wonder about the author's intent. It's not that it's ever confusing, just unnecessary.

Would you be willing to try another book from Marie Arana? Why or why not?

Yes, I believe so. A few minor stylistic points aside, it seemed a story well-researched and well-told.

What does David Crommett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

It's a good reading. I have no particular insight to accents or pronunciations, but he certainly didn't detract.

Did Bolivar inspire you to do anything?

Reminded me to reread Gabriel Garcia Marquez, not only The General in His Labyrinth, but everything.

3 people found this helpful