The Scramble for the Amazon and the Lost Paradise of Euclides da Cunha

Hecht (Sch. of Public Affairs & Inst. of the Environment, Univ. of California, Los Angeles) provides a vividly detailed account of the complex interactions of the diverse Amazon dwellers of the late 19th through early 20th centuries, including native people, descendants of runaway slaves, rubber barons, peasant rubber tree tappers, ranchers, scientists, explorers, and the Brazilian military. Against this background, the author focuses on the life story of Euclides da Cunha (1866–1909), a Brazilian journalist, civil engineer, and scholar. Da Cunha became well known in Brazil for his Os Sertões (The Backlands, 1902), which included his firsthand description of the 1897 Brazilian military expeditions against the rebellious peasants of Canudos in rural Bahia province. Da Cunha's interests in both peasant culture and exploration led him to join a 1905 Amazonian expedition to the Purús River, a tributary of the upper Amazon. Afterward, da Cunha wrote several articles about his Amazonian experience, interweaving topics of social and cultural history, geography, environmental observations, and political considerations. His writings and maps influenced arbitration of the border dispute. Da Cunha had hoped to write a seminal work about the complex history and culture of the Amazon basin, which he had planned to title O Paraíso Perdido (The Lost Paradise), but his life was cut short when he was shot by his wife's lover. Hecht's minutely detailed descriptions integrate historical, political, cultural, and literary themes as she explores the influence of one man on the politics and society of his time. A variety of illustrations and maps are included as well as extensive endnotes and bibliographical references.