·Marquez wades into his flambgyant and ultimately tragic material with gusto. A fascinating literary tour de force and a moving tribute to an extraordinary man.

·Gives off sparksof grandeur Bolivar's final months take him down the great Colombian river,the Magdalena,where the crocodiles on the banks laze with their mouths open to catch butterflies,and the heat lounges densely,thick and full of stinks.It is wonderfully evoke.

At the age of forty-six General Simon Belivar, who drove the Spanish from his lands and became the Liberator of South America.takes himself into exile. He makes a final journey down the Magdalenne River, revisiting the cities along, its shores, reliving the triumphs, passions and betrayals of his youth.Consumed by the memories of what he has done and what he failed to do,Bollvar hopes to see a away out of the labyrinth in which he has lived all his life ...