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

Nonfiction, History, Americas, South America, Science & Nature
Cover of the book The Scramble for the Amazon and the "Lost Paradise" of Euclides da Cunha by Susanna B. Hecht, University of Chicago Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Susanna B. Hecht ISBN: 9780226322834
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Publication: May 14, 2013
Imprint: University of Chicago Press Language: English
Author: Susanna B. Hecht
ISBN: 9780226322834
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication: May 14, 2013
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Language: English

The fortunes of the late nineteenth century’s imperial and industrial powers depended on a single raw material—rubber—with only one source: the Amazon basin. And so began the scramble for the Amazon—a decades-long conflict that found Britain, France, Belgium, and the United States fighting with and against the new nations of Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil for the forest’s riches. In the midst of this struggle, Euclides da Cunha, engineer, journalist, geographer, political theorist, and one of Brazil’s most celebrated writers, led a survey expedition to the farthest reaches of the river, among the world’s most valuable, dangerous, and little-known landscapes.

 

The Scramble for the Amazon tells the story of da Cunha’s terrifying journey, the unfinished novel born from it, and the global strife that formed the backdrop for both. Haunted by his broken marriage, da Cunha trekked through a beautiful region thrown into chaos by guerrilla warfare, starving migrants, and native slavery. All the while, he worked on his masterpiece, a nationalist synthesis of geography, philosophy, biology, and journalism he named the Lost Paradise. Da Cunha intended his epic to unveil the Amazon’s explorers, spies, natives, and brutal geopolitics, but, as Susanna B. Hecht recounts, he never completed it—his wife’s lover shot him dead upon his return.

 

At once the biography of an extraordinary writer, a masterly chronicle of the social, political, and environmental history of the Amazon, and a superb translation of the remaining pieces of da Cunha’s project, The Scramble for the Amazon is a work of thrilling intellectual ambition.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The fortunes of the late nineteenth century’s imperial and industrial powers depended on a single raw material—rubber—with only one source: the Amazon basin. And so began the scramble for the Amazon—a decades-long conflict that found Britain, France, Belgium, and the United States fighting with and against the new nations of Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil for the forest’s riches. In the midst of this struggle, Euclides da Cunha, engineer, journalist, geographer, political theorist, and one of Brazil’s most celebrated writers, led a survey expedition to the farthest reaches of the river, among the world’s most valuable, dangerous, and little-known landscapes.

 

The Scramble for the Amazon tells the story of da Cunha’s terrifying journey, the unfinished novel born from it, and the global strife that formed the backdrop for both. Haunted by his broken marriage, da Cunha trekked through a beautiful region thrown into chaos by guerrilla warfare, starving migrants, and native slavery. All the while, he worked on his masterpiece, a nationalist synthesis of geography, philosophy, biology, and journalism he named the Lost Paradise. Da Cunha intended his epic to unveil the Amazon’s explorers, spies, natives, and brutal geopolitics, but, as Susanna B. Hecht recounts, he never completed it—his wife’s lover shot him dead upon his return.

 

At once the biography of an extraordinary writer, a masterly chronicle of the social, political, and environmental history of the Amazon, and a superb translation of the remaining pieces of da Cunha’s project, The Scramble for the Amazon is a work of thrilling intellectual ambition.

More books from University of Chicago Press

Cover of the book The Culture of Disaster by Susanna B. Hecht
Cover of the book Piracy by Susanna B. Hecht
Cover of the book Oedipus and the Sphinx by Susanna B. Hecht
Cover of the book Making the Mission by Susanna B. Hecht
Cover of the book Designs on the Contemporary by Susanna B. Hecht
Cover of the book Into Africa by Susanna B. Hecht
Cover of the book The Submerged State by Susanna B. Hecht
Cover of the book Scenes from Deep Time by Susanna B. Hecht
Cover of the book Illinois Justice by Susanna B. Hecht
Cover of the book Firebreak by Susanna B. Hecht
Cover of the book The Calling of History by Susanna B. Hecht
Cover of the book The Pursuit of Harmony by Susanna B. Hecht
Cover of the book Terrestrial Lessons by Susanna B. Hecht
Cover of the book The World Is Always Coming to an End by Susanna B. Hecht
Cover of the book The Raj Quartet, Volume 4 by Susanna B. Hecht
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy