It’s important for me to read books about different cultures and different eras. I didn’t know much about Simon Bolivar before picking up this book. I learned about his leadership, his courage and South American countries in reading this book. Marie Arana does a great job describing his character and the various challenges of his time. If you are interested in learning about the history of independence in South America, I would recommend this as book.

Some quotes I underlined:

“The art of victory is learned in failure.”

This quote reminds me that people have been brutal throughout history and many different lands: “They dragged Ribas into town, killed him, dismembered him, fried his head in a lot of bubbling oil, and transported it in an orange cage to Caracas, where it was displayed…”

“But beyond the notion that equal rights demanded equal sacrifices, Bolivar believed in the inherent logic of liberty: ‘any free government that commits the folly of allowing slavery can expect to be punished by revolution.'”

“My hope is that our republics–less nations than sisters–will unite according to the bonds that have always united us, with the difference that in centuries past we obeyed the same tyrant, whereas now we will embrace a shared freedom.”