Into the Amazon: Chico Mendes and the Struggle for the Rain Forest

by Augusta Dwyer

HARDCOVER w/DUST JACKET

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 1991

Reviews

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure what Dwyer's thesis or expectations for this book were -- or if it just grew out of her usual reporting on Brazil in the 80s -- but it calmly portrayed the challenges to the rubber tappers, peasant farmers, and indigenous peoples of the Amazon in the face of ranching pressures and an unfavorable political and economic climate. It was especially depressing because this book is 35ish years old and things have not gotten better.

The only sentence that I underlined, sums it all up: "Carlo estimated that at least a thousand Yanomami Indians died during the construction of the Northern Perimeter, a road that has never been used."

I appreciated the glimpses into her own literal journey and her real ability to connect with people.

[Jennifer Braxton]

Need to reread, but this is the book that pulled me completely headfirst into the environmental plight.