Luiz Carlos Prestes (1898-1990) was an almost mythical Brazilian guerrilla-war leader in the 1920s. He became leader of the Brazilian Communist party in the 1930s and continued in that position for almost 40 years.

Luiz Carlos Prestes first gained national prominence in 1924, when, as a young captain of engineers, he led a group of army mutineers in the state of Rio Grande do Sul against the government of President Arturo Bernardes. Hard-pressed by troops loyal to the government, Prestes led his men several hundred miles north to a juncture with another group of rebels, from the state of São Paulo, who had retreated to the area of the great Iguassú Falls on the Argentine border.

From Iguassú, the rebels began an epic march through the interior of Brazil. They fought an almost classic guerrilla war against army and state police forces in a dozen states...