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Article: Rebellion in the Backlands.
- Article from:
- The Nation
- Article date:
- December 7, 1992
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 The Nation Company L.P. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Rebellion in the Backlands, or Os Sertoes, by Euclides da Cunha, is an astonishing book, and Cunha, a Brazilian of Celtic, Greek and Indian blood--he was said to have the mind of a scientist and the face of a Tapuia longing to return to the forest--was himself astonishing. Born in 1866 and reared in the state of Bahia, educated to be an officer, talented in botany and geology as well as philosophy, employed as a surveyor and geographer, he was by profession a practicing engineer and a newspaperman, and in fact built a bridge by day while writing Os Sertoes at night.
His 500-page epic treatise, published in 1902, rendered into rich English prose by Samuel Putnam, ...