In this volume of essays on the life and legacy of Simón Bolívar, a distinguished group of historians takes a fresh look at the impact of "the Liberator" as warrior, political thinker and leader, internationalist, continentalist, reformer, and revolutionary. A balanced yet critical appraisal of Bolívar's role in the Spanish American wars of independence, this in-depth collection offers a persuasive explanation of why the Bolívarian legend and cult has persisted.

Edited by Lester D. Langley - Foreword by Norman Fiering

Foreword
Introduction
Simón Bolívar: A Chronology
Part I: The Political and Social Thinker
Chapter 1: Simón Bolívar as Political Thinker
Chapter 2: Bolívar's Atlantic World Diplomacy
Chapter 3: Bolívar, Englishman: Elite Responsibility and Social Reform in Spanish American Independence
Part II: The Political Actor
Chapter 4: Simón Bolívar and Andrés Bello: The Republican Ideal
Chapter 5: Bolívar as Triumphal State-maker and Despairing Democrat: Origins of Party Polarization in Colombia
Part III: The Hemispheric Agenda
Chapter 6: The Image of Bolívar in the United States
Chapter 7: The United States as Seen by Simón Bolívar
Part IV: The Legacy
Chapter 8: Bolívar and the Future of Democracy
Chapter 9: The Hidden Legacy of Simón Bolívar
Epilogue
History and Our Heroes: The Bolívar Legend
Beginning to Read about Bolívar