When the Transamazon Highway scheme was launched in 1970, Brazilians were highly conscious of the moment’s historical significance. The project was promoted as one that would mark the beginning of a new era of unparalleled national success in developing Amazonia. The Transamazon scheme has indeed come to be a historical landmark, but one that represents the folly of the approach taken and the failure of many ill-founded dreams. Smith’s book will surely prove a valuable source to historians seeking to interpret the events of the 1970s. Smith proposes to “take a decade-long look at the Transamazon” (p. 2). The book does exactly that, and makes a valuable contribution by providing an accurate description of the colonists and the schemes during the period. Although Smith does not seek to test hypotheses or use the Transamazon case to probe wider theoretical controversies in the social or natural sciences, the report is founded on first-hand experience, and is both clearly written and well documented.
The loosely organized array of topics covered includes the genesis and construction of the highway; geology, soils, weather, and other environmental factors; agricultural productivity, practices, and problems; present and potential health problems, public health services, and alternative medicine; and the contribution of the highway to the material progress of individual colonist families and the regional economy. Information dealing with health problems and remedies accounts for slightly more than 40 percent of the text. The catalog of ethnographical information on home medical practices is especially detailed. Smith also describes the often callous, corrupt, and incompetent government agencies affecting all aspects of life in the colonization area. His charges are backed by specific examples.
Little is said related to long-term trends in the area, or of probable developments or desirable changes in upland rainforest settlement schemes. Changes are already under way since the period described. Interpretations vary of the events and system features outlined in this account. While the book is a valuable source, which should be read by all those interested in Amazonian development, it should not be read in isolation.
Nigel Smith’s book is sure to remain an important part of the documentation of the Transamazon scheme, and to make the highway’s first decade an even more fertile ground for historical analysis.
