The Man on Horseback
is Pierre Drieu la Rochelle's powerful novel of a South American Caudillo who seizes control of the Bolivian government and dreams of reestablishing the glory of the Incan Empire. A tragic tale of a populist leader who seizes power from the corrupt establishment, but then must struggle to hold onto it as the old guard plot their revenge, and as the forces he unleashes begin to spiral out of his control. Told through the voice of a lowly guitar player who is witness to the great events, as well as a participant,
is a study of realpolitik in action, full of intrigue and plots by Masons, the Church, and the old aristocracy, as well as a meditation on the relation between action and contemplation, between art and heroism.