In this text in the "In Focus" series, aimed a students and independent travellers, Brazil is depicted as a land of global superlatives, boasting the best football, the largest rainforest, and the world's worst social and economic inequality. It's vibrant culture is best known for carnival and samba and attracts thousands of visitors each year. The carnival capital of Rio also showcases Brazil's contrasts, as the shanty towns of the dispossesed cling to the mountain sides overlooking the beach playgrounds of the rich.

This book, based on the best-selling 'Brazil: In Focus', provides an introduction to the country for the student and traveller alike, people who want to know more about the real Brazil than is found in an ordinary guidebook.

In July 1993, near Haximu, a tiny hamlet in the Amazon rainforest, a fateful meeting between a group of young Yanomami Indians and Brazilian gold miners resulted in the massacre of the Yanomami. News of the tragedy shocked Brazil and the world. But mysteries remained: What exactly happened at Haximu? How many people died? Who killed the Indians and why? Using eyewitness accounts, this work tells the story behind the Haximu massacre. Set in the context of the Amazon gold rush, it describes the failings of Brazil's official indigenous policy, the tragic cultural misunderstanding between the gold miners and Yanomami, and analyzes the role of gold fever in the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and its people.

This book, based on the best-selling 'Brazil: In Focus', provides an introduction to the country for the student and traveller alike, people who want to know more about the real Brazil than is found in an ordinary guidebook.

Summary: Access to land is one of the key issues for developing countries - and Brazil has one of the most inequitable land distributions in the world, with vast tracts of land held by often absentee landowners. Meanwhile thousands of peasants live in marginal lands in cities and rural areas. The Brazilian Landless Workers' Movement (MST) has proved a huge success with the disenfranchised rural and urban poor in Brazil - becoming one of the largest social movements in the world. Cutting the Wire is the first account in English of the origins, history and current challenges faced by Brazil's poor majority. The authors have traveled the vast expanse of the country to record the words and actions of hundreds of activists who have taken their lives into their own hands. Cutting the Wire is how the MST describes the act of occupying the land, the cornerstone of their movement. It is the baptism of fire for the militant, an essential part of their identity and it plays a key role in the mistica, the moment of collective ritual that kicks off all MST events. Cutting the Wire is the story of the MST told in their own words, in vivid first-hand accounts of a continuing struggle.

This new series of country guides is designed for travellers and students who want to understand the wider picture and build up an overall knowledge of a country. Each In Focus guide is a lively and thought-provoking introduction to the country's people, politics and culture.

The In Focus guides will brief you on:

The history: Conquest, life as a colony, quest for independence and the building of a modern nation. How history can help explain today's society and politics.

The people: Who lives where, how they live. The different worlds of the poor and the rich; blacks, Indians and whites; Arabs and Jews; indigenous, disenfranchised and dispossessed peoples; human rights.

The culture: What to read, what to see, what to hear. Who's who in literature, music, dance, theater and cinema. Roots and rites of different religions. Folk traditions and indigenous cultural celebrations.

The politics: Who runs the country, who wants to run the country. Power and conflict between political parties, the military, guerillas and grassroots organizations. Historical ties to the U.S.

The economy: What the country produces and exports, how the economy has developed, the impact of foreign debt and free market reforms, who gains and who loses, presence and role of U.S. corporations.

Where to go, what to see: Must-see landmarks, lists of monuments and historical sites as well as the author's expert tips on what to see and do to get the most out of a short trip to the country.

Plus...
-- Facts and figures
-- Chronology
-- Practical advice
-- Nontourist travel
-- Further reading
-- Useful addresses
-- Color and b&w photos
-- Maps

Brazil: War on Children is a journey through the underworld of Brazil's ten million street children. The author interweaves first-hand reportage, interviews and statistics to paint a picture of life for the children. He discovers a world of pimps, muggers, prostitutes and petty criminals; homeless children who live in fear of sudden death at the hands of the off-duty police and other vigilantes who make up Brazil's death squads.