All over Latin America, and especially in the Venezuela of Hugo Chavez, Latin America's liberator, Sim�n Bol�var, is a political idol and symbol of that continent's new political self-confidence. The legends about him remain alive and have been the basis for many political speeches, plays, and fictional works. Michael Zeuske, one of the world's leading experts on Bol�var, examines the dimensions of the Bol�var cult and myths and compares these with the real historical person, and the world in which he lived. Zeuske's account corrects major inaccuracies in the historical texts, such as the legendary meeting between Alexander von Humboldt and Bol�var, which never actually took place.