Simón Bolívar: The Life and Legacy of the Venezuelan Leader Who Liberated Much of Latin America from the Spanish Empire
Written by Charles River Editors
Narrated by Colin Fluxman
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Although he is unquestionably one of the most studied leaders of the 19th century, Simón Bolívar remains today as enigmatic as he was two centuries ago, when his vision and presence largely inspired the overthrow of the Spanish Empire in the New World. The legend of Simón Bolívar has a great deal to do with the Siddhartha-like transition of a Creole aristocrat into an impoverished revolutionary; a sparsely educated but pampered aesthete into a premier Enlightenment thinker, and a privileged youth into a warrior of almost mythological prowess. And while all of it, to a greater or lesser extent, is true, Simón Bolívar was also a revolutionary of an atypical variety. The transformational ideals of Simón Bolívar did not always conform to the uncompromising canons of the French Revolution, or the libertarianism and individual freedoms of the American, and nor was he instinctively hostile to the concept of monarchy or aristocracy. His identification with principles of Enlightenment was leavened by exception, and by consideration, and although his military skills have certainly been overstated, they have tended to be judged against the background of Spanish moral and material collapse in the New World.
In the end, it is precisely these paradoxes and contradictions that made and still makes Simón Bolívar such an interesting individual. The broad milieu into which he was born was a colonial regime spread across a vast region already many centuries old, well established and with many of the essential social and political structures of the Old World implemented in the New World. Simón Bolívar was an aristocrat, but he was also a “Creole,” which implies that he was not of pure European stock, but of blood mixed over centuries with indigenous people, and sometimes with that of imported African slaves.
More audiobooks from Charles River Editors
The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The East India Company: The History of the British Empire's Most Famous Mercantile Company Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mossad: The History and Legacy of Israel’s National Intelligence Agency Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Gnosticism: The History and Legacy of the Mysterious Ancient Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Project MK-Ultra: The History of the CIA’s Controversial Human Experimentation Program Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legends of the West: Deadwood, South Dakota Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ur: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mysteries of the South: Ghosts, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in Dixie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nineveh: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Assyrian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fermi Paradox: The History and Legacy of the Famous Debate over the Existence of Aliens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Life and Legacy of the Father of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Denisovans: The History of the Extinct Archaic Humans Who Spread Across Asia during the Paleolithic Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cambrian Period: The History and Legacy of the Start of Complex Life on Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Madame de Pompadour: The Life and Legacy of French King Louis XV’s Chief Mistress Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of the Dead: The History and Legacy of Ancient Egypt’s Famous Funerary Texts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life and Trial of Lizzie Borden: The History of 19th Century America's Most Famous Murder Case Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Arnold Rothstein and Meyer Lansky: The Lives and Legacies of the Gangsters Who Reformed Organized Crime in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mud Flood Hypothesis: The History of the Conspiracy Theory about the Global Empire of Tartaria Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung: The Pioneering Lives and Works of History’s Most Influential Psychologists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Patrice Lumumba: The Life and Legacy of the Pan-African Politician Who Became Congo's First Prime Minister Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Battle of the Somme: The History and Legacy of World War I’s Biggest Battle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Medieval England: The History of England from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Tudor Dynasty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: The History and Legacy of Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Simón Bolívar
Related audiobooks
Pancho Villa: The Life and Legacy of the Famous Mexican Revolutionary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Shining Path: The History of Peru’s Revolutionary Communist Party and the Ongoing Civil War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Roman Empire: The History and Legacy of the Ancient World’s Most Famous Empire from Julius Caesar to Its Collapse Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsColombia: What Everyone Needs to Know Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Order of Santiago : The History of the Catholic Military Order Sworn to Defend the Iberian Peninsula Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pueblo Revolt: The Secret Rebellion That Drove the Spaniards Out of the Southwest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Napoleon – In a Nutshell Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Napoleon: A Concise Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Middle Ages: European History in the Era of the Dark Ages Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Be Like the Fox: Machiavelli In His World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5España: A Brief History of Spain Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Populista: The Rise of Latin America's 21st Century Strongman Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Medieval Invasions of Italy: The History and Legacy of the Conflicts across the Italian Peninsula in the Middle Ages Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsColonial Argentina: The History of Argentina’s Colonization and Struggle for Independence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Argentina and Peronism: The History and Legacy of Argentina’s Transition from Juan Perón to Democracy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Francisco Pizarro: The Spanish Explorer and Conquistador in Peru Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5World War II: America at War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5History of the Conquest of Mexico Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When Montezuma Met Cortes: The True Story of the Meeting that Changed History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Caste War of Yucatán: The History and Legacy of the Last Major Indigenous Revolt in the Americas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Argentina: The History and Legacy of the Nation from the Colonial Era to Today Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Byzantine-Seljuk Wars: The History and Legacy of the Battles for Asia Minor in the 11th Century Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Tupac Amaru II: The Life and Legacy of the Peruvian Leader Who Rebelled against the Spanish Empire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBorn in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America: Fourth Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Conquest of the Incas Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Traveller in War-Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Political Biographies For You
Enough Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The White House Plumbers: The Seven Weeks That Led to Watergate and Doomed Nixon's Presidency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5John Adams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward's Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Romney: A Reckoning Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Truman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fear: Trump in the White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Benjamin Franklin: An American Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Infidel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Team of Rivals Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lincoln Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Benjamin Franklin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Peril Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dressed for a Dance in the Snow: Women's Voices from the Gulag Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mornings on Horseback Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beautiful Things: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Simón Bolívar
3 ratings0 reviews