Hans Staden: The True Story Of His Captivity 1557

by Hans Staden, Malcolm Letts (Translator)

Hans The True Story Of His Captivity 1557 is a non-fiction book written by Hans Staden himself. The book is an account of his captivity by the Tupinamba tribe in Brazil in the 16th century. Staden was a German sailor who was shipwrecked on the Brazilian coast and captured by the Tupinamba tribe. He was held captive for several months and witnessed their customs and rituals, including cannibalism. The book is divided into three parts. The first part describes Staden's journey to Brazil, his shipwreck, and his capture by the Tupinamba tribe. The second part details his life as a captive, including his experiences with the tribe's customs and rituals. The third part describes his escape and return to Europe.The book is considered an important historical document as it provides valuable insights into the customs and rituals of the Tupinamba tribe in the 16th century. It is also significant as it is one of the earliest European accounts of cannibalism in the Americas. The book has been translated into several languages and has been widely read by historians and anthropologists.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Travel, Brazil, Anthropology

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[Jonathan Ashleigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a tough read because, as the reader, you are not always sure about what is going on.

Hans Staden was a German explorer who travelled to South America in the mid-sixteenth century. He was captured by a tribe native to Brazil, but managed to survive and return to Europe. This book is his widely read account describing his captivity. In it, he claims the native people who held him captive practiced cannibalism.

I wish this book and The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon could be put together and told from the explorer's perspective and also be a true story. That would be a good book.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The intro is very long and the writer uses a slew of complicated and long words. Obviously his vocabulary is very advanced... but to the average reader it becomes very confusing and uninteresting. It really was not necessary either. Once you get to the actual book written by Staden, it is quite interesting. Though the chapters are short, and the book seems a compilation of short stories, it is a pretty good account of his experience and an interesting read. I give the intro 2 stars.... the actual narrative by Staden 4 stars. I would suggest that you skip the introduction unless you like to read things like "Tupi cosmology and shamanism encouraged the expansive and therefore transculturating social system that broke down the rectitude of social and cultural individuation". Yes, that's an actual quote from the intro. A very drug out description of the contents of Staden's book. Staden's account is very basic. Not extremely detailed but you get a good idea of the way these natives lived and his experience with them.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was easy to read and occasionally entertaining. His extreme anxiety was curious and pretty comical. But, yeah, I'm not a big fan of travel narratives, so it is what it is.

[Doris Raines · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LIKE THIS BOOK I JUST LOVE TRUE STORYS 👌😎🍿

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an incredibly important book for Brazilian history. Hans Staden's account is both interesting and illuminated, if sensationalized somewhat by himself in writing his account. I picked it up while doing some research on the 'donatários' in Brazil and found the text very useful in a number of ways. The only issue I found in this translation was how the translator kept some of the original names without clarification and replaced some of the Portuguese names with Spanish equivalents, which was annoying to work through at times and felt somewhat inconsistent. The Portuguese translation I also read was better in some ways, but didn't have as many footnotes as this one to expand on the research. Overall, very good book and good translation with that one caveat.

[Marco · Rating 2 out of 5]

¿Deberíamos seguir leyendo textos tan marcadamente coloniales como el testimonio de Hans Staden sobre su cautiverio con una tribu tupinambá? Supongo que tiene su mérito para el estudio académico; a mí, en cambio, la lectura me dio mucha bronca.
Dos estrellas porque me sorprendió la mirada etnográfica y la descripción tan detallada de costumbres, estructuras sociales, flora y fauna.

[Lucius]

dnf ... only read part 1 (this was for a class), thus i can't really speak to the book as a whole. however, of what i did read, staden seems an incredibly unreliable narrator with a strong habit for sensationalizing his life. which makes sense if you want a book to sell.

[no cuenten lo que leo]

que aburrimiento x dios

[Gabriel Martins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quase cômico

[Enzo Cosenza · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Brazil was a serious country this would be a mandatory reading at school