Iconic figure of the Argentinian pampa and the Patagonian steppe, the gaucho has instilled his soul into these seemingly endless expanses. Like the harsh and lonely land that shaped him, the gaucho has always fascinated city dwellers in search of wild breakaways. Contemporary gauchos certainly have little in common with their distant forerunners - whether pariahs or guerillas - except perhaps for self-denial in the face of continuing spartan life conditions as the inevitable price of their relative freedom. Nevertheless, insidious changes in their natural environment are increasingly compromising their resilience. This book is a tribute to these forerunners of a long-standing Argentine tradition and to the Correntino gauchos, humble heirs to a remarkable human epic. Text in English and French.