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Overview
The Brazilian government's effort to develop the immense Amazon region has created widespread controversy. Written in a clear, nonacademic style, Victims of the Miracle is the first in-depth account by an anthropologist of the social and environmental impact of the Amazon development program. Shelton Davis begins with an examination of the economic history of the Amazon Basin from World War II through the building of the Trans-Amazon Highway in 1970. He then analyzes contemporary Indian policy in Brazil and discusses the effects that highway construction and mining development projects have had on a number of Indian tribes. He also describes the rise of agribusiness in Brazil and the environmental damage caused by the recent deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon.