I was always a bit partial to Che because of romanticizing The Motorcycle Diaries as a kid.
Guerrilla Warfare was a solid book as well but there are better manuals for such things but it was super influential.
As to Brown, he was demonized for a long time. Even Lincoln talked mad shit about him, mostly because he knew Browns death was about to kick off the Civil War.
Brown also knew that his hanging was his most important action for the cause, and even uttered "this is a beautiful country" before his execution.
Some good quotes and history right here.
http://www.nellaware.com/blog/john-brown-quotes.html