{"product_id":"comandante-9780857861535","title":"Comandante","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eUpdated since Chávez's death in March 2013, \u003ci\u003eComandante\u003c\/i\u003e is the definitive account of Chávez's presidency, an authoritative chronicle of one of history's greatest leaders and his legacy.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn cool, lucid prose, Rory Carroll unpicks the threads that weave together to form a modern-day dictatorship, no less sinister for its relative absence of bloodshed. The portrait of Venezuela that emerges is as nuanced as it is ultimately chilling -- MICHELA WRONG *  * author of In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz *  *\u003cbr\u003eRory Carroll's brilliant portrait of Chavez reads like a fast-paced novel of ego run amok, an ego that happens to be attached to a masterful politician, a dynamo of energy and charisma, and a colossus of managerial ineptitude. \u003ci\u003eThe Comandante\u003c\/i\u003e is by turns heartbreaking, maddening, absurd, and surreal, a truly epic story of promise squandered and opportunities lost -- BEN FOUNTAIN *  * author of Billy Lynn’s Long Half-time Walk *  *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eComandante\u003c\/i\u003e provides an impressively well-researched and readable portrait... Carroll's book should serve as a useful reminder of what el Comandante did and didn't achieve *  * The New York Times *  *\u003cbr\u003eA fine, timely book *  * The Economist *  *\u003cbr\u003eThis beautifully written and acutely perceptive book amounts to a lyrical meditation on the nature of power . . . [\u003ci\u003eComandante\u003c\/i\u003e] will deserve to be the definitive work on Chávez in the English language\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e -- David Blair *  * The Daily Telegraph *  *\u003cbr\u003eAn English-language account to accompany the best of those by the region's writers . . . this book, by turns personal, wry and wise, is required reading -- Tom Hennigan *  * Irish Times *  *\u003cbr\u003eIn good reporter fashion, he [Rory Carroll] diligently tracks down his sources, turning up a colourful cast of red-shirted Chavista loyalists, bitter political opponents, and the everyday Venezuelans in between. What emerges is a more intimate image of Chavez than his own propaganda allows... true drama lies not in a story's ending but in the twists and turns it takes to get there. On those terms, \u003ci\u003eComandante\u003c\/i\u003e delivers -- Oliver Balch *  * Independent on Sunday *  *\u003cbr\u003eA well-considered and painfully fair epitaph for the Chávez regime -- John Sweeny *  * Literary Review *  *\u003cbr\u003eAn excellent appraisal of the charismatic leader . . . Carroll gets as close as any outsider to life inside the palace. What emerges is a portrait of a politician with a magnetic people's touch but a woeful grasp of management -- Oliver Balch *  * The Guardian *  *\u003cbr\u003e[A] deeply informative, sprightly chronicle of Venezuela's dizzying journey under its Comandante...Here is a lively portrait of a new Latin American genus: the democratically elected caudillo *  * Washington Post *  *\u003cbr\u003eA compellingly written, keenly reported portrait of Venezuela -- Julia Seig *  * Financial Times *  *\u003cbr\u003eCarroll uses interviews and anecdotes effectively to describe Chavez's bizarre court -- Giles Milton *  * Mail on Sunday *  *\u003cbr\u003eLove Chavez or hate him, this is a brilliant portrait layered out in words -- Lou Pendergrast *  * More2Read *  *\u003cbr\u003eCarroll deftly retells the familiar narrative and then adds something new -- Dorothy Kronick *  * The New Republic *  *\u003cbr\u003eRory Carroll was in prime position to observe the Chavez regime and that is what he gives readers of this book. The distant judgments can come later -- Douglas Osler *  * The Scotsman *  *\u003cbr\u003eRory Carroll is an excellent journalist and gifted storyteller, and in this book, he tells the tale of Venezuela's leader Hugo Chávez with admirable style and insight. A pleasurable read; highly recommended -- JON LEE ANDERSON, author of CHE GUEVARA: A REVOLUTIONARY LIFE\u003cbr\u003eSuperb, witty and subtle... Carroll listens to the people, catching shades, inflections, blighted hopes, distilling common decency *  * Oldie *  *","brand":"Canongate Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49406324244823,"sku":"9780857861535","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/comandante-9780857861535","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}