Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, or simply Che, is a legendary figure, an ally of Fidel Castro, a man who became the ideal fighter for freedom and justice for several generations. He died about 40 years ago in a small Bolivian village, never having had time to carry out his grandiose plan for an all-American guerrilla war against US domination in South America. Over the years, interest in Che Guevara has not waned at all; on the contrary, it has even grown. In addition to his direct heirs - revolutionary partisans of various political trends, fighting in different parts of the planet - his former and current opponents remember him. Songs are written about him, poems are dedicated to him, his portraits can be seen in the windows of fashionable shops in Paris and on the peeling walls of houses in the poorest Latin American villages. Many Bolivian peasants today revere Che Guevara as a saint. But, despite the keen interest in Che Guevara and the growing popularity of the romantic revolutionary, the almost complete silence of Russian researchers and journalists is surprising. The book by Yu.P. Gavrikov, written with great love, will become a significant contribution to the study of the personality of Che Guevara. It is especially important to note that the author was personally acquainted with the legendary hero and met him more than once in Cuba.