The guerilla leader gives a personal account of the formation of the Cuban Rebel Army - from the disastrous battle which almost decimated the Granma expedition in December 1956 through the first eight months in the Sierra Maestra. With great modesty and stark realism he tells of the skirmishes and battles, heroes and deserters, the peasant and city recruits. In an Appendix, Che sets the Episodes in the context of the entire war.