The General in His Labyrinth

The last months of Simón Bolívar, in 1830, as the sick and disillusioned Liberator makes his final journey out of Bogotá and down the Magdalena River toward the sea and death, his dream of a united Spanish America in ruins. García Márquez follows the real route: the descent from Bogotá to the river port of Honda, the long boat journey down the great Magdalena, the colonial town of Mompox, and the hacienda at Santa Marta where he dies.

Manuela Sáenz

Bogotá (the departure)

Chapter 1

Bolívar sets out from a hostile Bogotá a ruined man, resigned, ill and mocked, leaving behind Manuela Sáenz, the fierce woman who twice saved his life. The high cold capital, where his enemies now hold power, is the start of the long descent toward the sea and the end.

Chapter 1

explicit The journey begins in Bogotá, the real Andean capital, which Bolívar leaves in 1830 having resigned the presidency, his federation collapsing; his lover Manuela Sáenz remains behind in the city.

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