[1] Structured as a series of fragments, the book varies in tone from straight journalism to expressionism and poetic lyricism and in genre from short story to aphorism to biography.

[2] It established the formal and thematic qualities of Galeano's prose,[2] and won the Casa de las Américas Prize in 1978.

[5] It chronicles two decades of struggle and perseverance in Latin America, with the 1976 Argentine coup d'état as its focal point.

[6] Galeano reveals episodes of his early life such as his surviving malaria, his loss of faith in God, the threats of military coups, dictators and censorship, as well as his experiences living amongst Indians, guerrillas, presidents and prostitutes.

's 2001 manifesto Days of War, Nights of Love, which shares its mixed form, aphoristic style and embrace of philosophy and morality as weapons within a political superstructure.