Customer Reviews:
 A wonderful and important book June 1, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
With his trilogy of Red Gold, Amazon Frontier and this last book, John Hemming has single-handedly brought the history of Brazil's native peoples to the attention of the world. That this history has been largely ignored and that his books are almost impossible to find in Brazil is testament to the scant attention has been paid to Brazil's indigenous peoples since conquest. They have simply been ignored as a group of nations; as have few other groups of peoples around the world.
The story of Brazil's Indians is both tragic and full of hope. In the first two volumes Hemming shows, through meticulous research, how countless nations with precious linguistic, artistic and epistiemlogcial reserves and highly developed tropical agricultural knowledge were wiped out by Portuguese slavers and Brazilian Bandeirantes. Nations like the Omagua had cultures as developed as that of the Maya or the Incas. In this book he shows that thanks to indigenous activists and enlightened anthropologists like Reichel-Dolmatoff and the Villas Boas brothers, there is reason for hope. Brazil's Indians, though still largely ignored are in part succeeding in demarcating their lands and integrating their cultures with modern Brazil.
Well worth a 16 year wait!!! October 5, 2003
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I think it's been about 16 years since I bought 'Amazon Frontier' by John Hemming, the second book in his trilogy charting the history of contact between the indians of Brazil and the invaders from Europe. Since that day I've been eagerly awaiting the hoped for final book. In brief 'Die if You Must' does not disappoint at all. It is clearly well researched, factual with a strong dash of humanity and crammed with stories and information that thrilled me, saddened me, horrified me and ultimately left me with feelings of hope. The accounts of first contacts with hitherto unknown, understandably wary or hostile people are incredibly intense and I found it easy to imagine the mutual terror and excitement felt by both the indigenous nations and the people seeking to contact them. Stories of tribal revitalization and resistance in the face of seemingly unsurmountable opposition are great to hear. We hear tales of honour, shame, morality, courage, grief and guilt in the very personal accounts of people both indigenous and neo-Brazillian in the wider scope of the book. It's a shame that like so many other pages in history, that of the indigenous peoples of Brazil is one that is sadly neglected by the media and writers alike. Thankfully there are still people like John Hemming determined enough to bring their stories and histories to a wider audience. A fantastic book, detailed maps and information, I could go on and on. Best piece of non-fiction I've read in years. Incredible!
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