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The Crusades of Cesar Chavez: A Biography
The Crusades of Cesar Chavez A Biography Author:Miriam Pawel Cesar Estrada Chavez founded a labor union, launched a movement, and inspired a generation. He rose from migrant worker to national icon, a journey that vaulted him into the ranks of the great charismatic leaders of the twentith century. Almost two decades after his death, Chavez remains far and away the most significant Latino leader in the his... more »tory of this country. Yet, his full life story has been told only in hagiography?until now.
Miriam Pawel?s new biography paints a complex portrait of the famed labor leader. In this deeply researched, richly empathetic work, Chavez emerges as a heroic figure with tragic flaws, a brilliant leader who sometimes stumbled, and a pragmatic strategist often at odds with his own elusive, visionary dreams. Rather than tarnishing Chavez?s legacy, this unvarnished portrait only enriches one of his most salient qualities: his profound humanity. He was an original, experimental thinker with eclectic passions--a self-educated historian, an avid reader, and a disciple of non-violent protest like his hero, Gandhi. Pawel?s biography will trace Chavez?s astonishing rise, as he developed strategies that empowered the poor and vanquished California?s powerful agriculture industry, to the eventual shift from inspirational leadership to cult of personality, and the consequences of that transformation.
Like no previous portrayal, Cesar Chavez will separate the man from the myth and explore what propelled an uneducated Mexican American--a short, soft-spoken man, unimposing in physical appearance or in speech--into a national icon.« less