The Real Che Guevara

Che the revolutionary romantic, as depicted by Benecio del Toro in Soderbergh's film, never existed. That hero of the left, with his hippie hair and beard, an image now iconic on t-shirts and coffee mugs around the world, is a myth concocted by Fidel Castro's propagandists - something of a cross between Don Quixote and Robin Hood.

Like those tall tales, Fidel's myth of Che bears a superficial resemblance to historical facts, but the real story is far darker. Some Robin Hood probably did brutalize the rich and, to cover his tracks, give some of his loot to the poor. In medieval Spain, Quixote-like knights probably did roam the countryside, ridding it not of dragons but of the land's few remaining Muslims.