"On my life and honor I promise not to rest until I have freed America of her tyrants." The year was 1806. Freedom was in the air. The United States had won independence from England; France had dethroned the Bourbons; Napoleon's star was rising. The speaker was Simón Bolívar, twenty-three years old, a multimillionaire and member of one of Venezuela's most influential families.

Mr. Syme tells the heroic story of Bolivar's lifelong crusade clearly and dramatically in this fast-moving biography. In particular, he describes the change from the golden playboy traveling in Europe to the dedicated if quixotic fighter leading a tatterdemalion army to victory against the Spanish. Following Bolivar's career to the pinnacle -- when he was president of Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia -- the author explains why the unity that Bolivar had established was soon dissolved by quarrels and intrigue.

This stirring portrait of perhaps the most important political figure to come from South America puts his strengths and weaknesses in perspective and shows why his vision still has not been achieved.

From the dust jacket