All too often, travel writers plunge into seemingly obscure parts of the globe with little knowledge of where they are, whom they are among, or what has happened there in the past. In this trend-breaking anti-travel book, Richard Gott describes his own journey through the heart of South America, across the swampland that forms the watershed between the River Plate and the River Amazon. But the story of his expedition takes second place to a brilliant resurrection of the historical events in the area over five hundred years, of the people who have lived there and the visitors who have made the same journey. The land crossed by the Upper Paraguay river once formed the contested frontier in South America between Spanish and Portuguese territory. The Portuguese sent expeditions through it in attempts to reach the Spanish silver mines of the Andes, and the Jesuits (supported by the monarch in Madrid) established strategic hamlets - the famous Indian missions - to stabilize the frontier. But this was not the beginning or end of conflict in the area. Earlier, the Guarani-speaking Indian nations of Paraguay had made violent contact across the swamp with the Quechua - speakers of the Inca empire; later, after the departure of the Spaniards, the nineteenth century witnessed a prolonged period of purposeful extermination of the local peoples. Since the Spanish conquest, the area has seen an endless procession of newcomers pursuing unsuitable and utopian programmes of economic and social development that have inevitably ended in disaster for the local population. Intermingling accounts of his own travels over many years with those of Jesuit priests, Spanish conquistadores and Portuguese Mamelukes, together with those of other visitors such as Alcides D'Orbigny, Theodore Roosevelt, and Claude Levi-Strauss, Richard Gott weaves a complex web of narrative that brings to life the almost unknown frontier land of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. Both gripping and polemical, Land Wit
Publishers Weekly In 1990, by train, plane, bus, car and motorcycle, Gott ( Guerilla Movements in Latin America ) journeyed from east to west across central South America through the swamps and plains of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, on a route marked by old Spanish and Portuguese mission settlements. Rich in the geography and history of this little-chronicled area, this thoughtful, well-researched account details the ravages that European colonists inflicted on populous Indian nations. While he mentions that some of the Jesuit missions, particularly those in the northern section of the region, offered positive cultural and agricultural changes to the indigenous peoples, Gott believes that elsewhere the missionaries were a nearly military force that collaborated with the European invaders. In a final note, he suggests that there is enough documentation available to support a revision of the ``archaic and racist view of South American history that has prevailed for so long.'' Illustrations not seen by PW. (Jan.)

Richard Gott

London ; New York: Verso

Verso Editions

New Left Books

Verso Books

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

First Edition, US, 1993

London, 1992

Tight margins. Text lost in binding. Irregular pagination.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 297-299) and index.
6

All too often, travel writers plunge into seemingly obscure parts of the globe with little knowledge of where they are, whom they are among, or what has happened there in the past. In this trend-breaking anti-travel book, Richard Gott describes his own journey through the heart of South America, across the swampland that forms the watershed between the River Plate and the River Amazon. But the story of his expedition takes second place to a brilliant resurrection of the historical events in the area over five hundred years, of the people who have lived there and the visitors who have made the same journey. The land crossed by the Upper Paraguay river once formed the contested frontier in South America between Spanish and Portuguese territory. The Portuguese sent expeditions through it in attempts to reach the Spanish silver mines of the Andes, and the Jesuits (supported by the monarch in Madrid) established strategic hamlets - the famous Indian missions - to stabilize the frontier.
But this was not the beginning or end of conflict in the area. Earlier, the Guarani-speaking Indian nations of Paraguay had made violent contact across the swamp with the Quechua - speakers of the Inca empire; later, after the departure of the Spaniards, the nineteenth century witnessed a prolonged period of purposeful extermination of the local peoples. Since the Spanish conquest, the area has seen an endless procession of newcomers pursuing unsuitable and utopian programmes of economic and social development that have inevitably ended in disaster for the local population. Intermingling accounts of his own travels over many years with those of Jesuit priests, Spanish conquistadores and Portuguese Mamelukes, together with those of other visitors such as Alcides D'Orbigny, Theodore Roosevelt, and Claude Levi-Strauss, Richard Gott weaves a complex web of narrative that brings to life the almost unknown frontier land of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay.
Both gripping and polemical, Land Without Evil is a significant contribution to our knowledge of South America.

All too often, travel writers plunge into seemingly obscure parts of the globe with little knowledge of where they are, whom they are among or what has happened there in the past. In this trend-breaking anti-travel book, Richard Gott describes his own journey thru the heart of S. America, across the swampland that forms the watershed between the River Plate & the River Amazon. But the story of his expedition takes 2nd place to a brilliant resurrection of the historical events in the area over 500 years, of the people who have lived there & the visitors who have made the same journey. The land crossed by the Upper Paraguay river once formed the contested frontier in S. America between Spanish & Portuguese territory. The Portuguese sent expeditions thru it in attempts to reach the Spanish silver mines of the Andes, & the Jesuits (supported by the monarch in Madrid) established strategic hamlets--the famous Indian missions--to stabilize the frontier. But this wasn't the beginning or end of conflict in the area. Earlier, the Guarani-speaking Indian nations of Paraguay had made violent contact across the swamp with the Quechua-speakers of the Inca empire; later, after the departure of the Spaniards, the 19th century witnessed a prolonged period of purposeful extermination of the local peoples. Since the Spanish conquest, the area has seen an endless procession of newcomers pursuing unsuitable & utopian programmes of economic & social development that have inevitably ended in disaster for the local population. Intermingling accounts of his own travels over many years with those of Jesuit priests, Spanish conquistadores & Portuguese Mamelukes, together with those of other visitors such as Alcides D'Orbigny, Theodore Roosevelt & Claude Levi-Strauss, Gott weaves a complex web of narrative that brings to life the almost unknown frontier land of Brazil, Bolivia & Paraguay.

Describes a journey through the heart of South America across the swampland that forms the watershed between the River Plate and the River Amazon. The text resurrects the historical events in the area over 500 years, the lives of people who have lived there, and visitors who made the same journey.

xv, 320 : 25 cm
Includes bibliographical references and index

2023-06-28