The motorcycle diaries - Ernesto 'Che' Guevara

In January 1952, two young men from Buenos Aires set out to explore South America on a 500cc Norton. One of them was the twenty-three-year-old Ernesto 'Che' Guevara.

Written eight years before the Cuban Revolution, these are the diaries of Che Guevara, full of disasters and discoveries, high drama and laddish improvisations. Touring through Argentina, Chile, Peru and Venezuela, his greatest concerns are where the next drink is coming from, where the next bed is to be found and who might be around to share it. Within a decade Che Guevara would be a household name. His trip might have been the adventure of a lifetime - had his lifetime not turned into a much greater adventure.

More recently made into an Oscar-winning film starring Gael Garcia Bernal, 'The Motorcycle Diaries' is an extraordinary account of a hero in the making.

Ernesto 'Che' Guevara was born in Argentina in 1928. After fighting alongside Fidel Castro in the three-year guerrilla war in Cuba, he became Minister for Industry following the victory of the Cuban Revolution. In 1966 he established a guerilla base in Bolivia. He was captured and killed in 1967.

'It's true; Marxists just wanna have fun.A revolutionary bestseller.' Guardian

'"Easy Rider" meets "Das Kapital".' The Times

'What distinguishes these diaries is that they reveal a human side to El Che which historians have successfully managed to suppress.A joy to read from start to finish.' Financial Times

'For every comic escapade of the carefree roustabout there is an equally eye-opening moment in the development of the future revolutionary leader. By the end of the journey, a politicized Guevara has emerged to predict his own legendary future.' Time

'The vision of the noble loner, whether freedom-fighter or biker.gives hope to world-weary revolutionaries and non-revolutionaries alike.' Telegraph

'An extraordinary first-person account.It redoubles his image and lends a touch of humanity with enough rough edges to invite controversy.' Los Angeles Times

'Political incorrectness galore.this book should do much to humanise the image of a man who found his apotheosis as a late Sixties cultural icon. It is also, incidentally, a remarkably good travel book about South America.' Scotsman

'A Latin American James Dean or Jack Kerouac.' Washington Post

'The great thing about this book is that Che Guevara is never a bore. It satisfies both as an enjoyable travelogue and as a chronicle of the development of one of this century's most romantic figures.' Literary Review

'Politically-correct revolutionary hero? Perhaps a few years later, but in this account Che Guevara comes over as one of the lads.' Bike News