Susanna B. Hecht's Books

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

By: Susanna B. Hecht

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

By: Susanna B. Hecht

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.

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629

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University of Chicago Press

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ISBN 10

0226322815

ISBN 13

9780226322810

The Fate of the Forest

Developers, Destroyers, and Defenders of the Amazon

By: Susanna B. Hecht,Alexander Cockburn

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The Fate of the Forest

Developers, Destroyers, and Defenders of the Amazon

By: Susanna B. Hecht,Alexander Cockburn

The Amazon rain forest covers more than five million square kilometers, amid the territories of nine different nations. It represents over half of the planet’s remaining rain forest. Is it truly in peril? What steps are necessary to save it? To understand the future of Amazonia, one must know how its history was forged: in the eras of large pre-Columbian populations, in the gold rush of conquistadors, in centuries of slavery, in the schemes of Brazil’s military dictators in the 1960s and 1970s, and in new globalized economies where Brazilian soy and beef now dominate, while the market in carbon credits raises the value of standing forest. Susanna Hecht and Alexander Cockburn show in compelling detail the panorama of destruction as it unfolded, and also reveal the extraordinary turnaround that is now taking place, thanks to both the social movements, and the emergence of new environmental markets. Exploring the role of human hands in destroying—and saving—this vast forested region, The Fate of the Forest pivots on the murder of Chico Mendes, the legendary labor and environmental organizer assassinated after successful confrontations with big ranchers. A multifaceted portrait of Eden under siege, complete with a new preface and afterword by the authors, this book demonstrates that those who would hold a mirror up to nature must first learn the lessons offered by some of their own people.

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404

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University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226322734

ISBN 13

9780226322735

The Fate of the Forest

Developers, Destroyers, and Defenders of the Amazon, Updated Edition

By: Susanna B. Hecht,Alexander Cockburn

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The Fate of the Forest

Developers, Destroyers, and Defenders of the Amazon, Updated Edition

By: Susanna B. Hecht,Alexander Cockburn

Susanna Hecht and Alexander Cockburn show the panorama of destruction as it unfolded, and also reveal the extraordinary turnaround that is now taking place, thanks both to the social movements and the emergence of new environmental markets. Exploring the role of human hands in destroyingùand savingùthis vast forested region, The Fate of the Forest pivots on the murder of Chico Mendes, a legendary labor and environmental organizer who was assassinated after successful confrontations with big ranchers. A multifaceted portrait, complete with a new preface and afterword by the authors, this book demonstrates that those who would hold a mirror up to nature must first learn the lessons offered by some of their own people. --Book Jacket.

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University of Chicago Press

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ISBN 10

0226322726

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9780226322728

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

By: Susanna B. Hecht

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

By: Susanna B. Hecht

A “compelling and elegantly written” history of the fight for the Amazon basin and the work of a brilliant but overlooked Brazilian intellectual (Times Literary Supplement, UK). The fortunes of the late nineteenth century’s imperial powers depended on a single raw material—rubber—with only one source: the Amazon basin. This scenario ignited 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, the Brazilian author and geographer Euclides da Cunha led a survey expedition to the farthest reaches of the river. 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 entitled Lost Paradise. Hoping to unveil the Amazon’s explorers, spies, natives, and brutal geopolitics, Da Cunha was killed by his wife’s lover before he could complete his epic work. once the biography of Da Cunha, a translation of his unfinished work, and a chronicle of the social, political, and environmental history of the Amazon, The Scramble for the Amazon is a work of thrilling intellectual ambition.

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629

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226322831

ISBN 13

9780226322834

Book's by Susanna B. Hecht

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

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

The Fate of the Forest

The Fate of the Forest

The Fate of the Forest

The Fate of the Forest

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

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

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