Villegas, Harry. Pombo: A man of Che's guerrilla: with Che Guevara in Bolivia, 1966-68, [ed. By Mary-Alice Waters]. Pathfinder, NY, 1997. 365p index ISBN 0-87348-833-4 pbk, $21.95.

This is an unabashedly enthusiastic diary account of Che Guevara's ill-fated Bolivian revolutionary campaign (1966-68) written by Harry Villegas (Pombo), who as a young Cuban in his 20s was a member of Guevara's general staff. Villegas, now a brigadier general in the Cuban Army, dedicates his book to Guevara "and to the comrades in the struggle." The book is well produced, with excellent maps and photographs, and makes for fascinating reading. It is the best record now available of Guevara's attempt to bring the Cuban Revolution to the Latin American masses. It tells the story from the inside, in great detail, and, as such, is a model presentation of the official Cuban point of view as seen through the eyes of one of its idealistic apostles. The diary spans the period from July 1966 to the end of May 1967. It should be required reading for all those interested in hemispheric affairs. All levels.

- R.M. Levine, University of Miami  
 
 
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