When We Sold God's Eye

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Diamonds, Murder and a Clash of Worlds in the Amazon

'A first-class work of reporting . . . above all a work of compassion for Indigenous peoples everywhere' BENJAMIN MOSER, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of SONTAG

'A non-fiction novel of modern conquest, capitalism and murder . . . a stunning work' GREG GRANDIN, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of FORDLANDIA

Growing up in a remote corner of the world's largest rainforest, Pio, Maria, and Oita learned to hunt wild pigs and tapirs, gathering Brazil nuts and a ai berries from centuries-old trees. Then the first highway pierced through. Ranchers, loggers, and prospectors invaded, and they lost their families to terrible new weapons and diseases. Pushed by the government to assimilate, they struggled to understand their new, capitalist reality, discovering its wonders as well as its horrors. They ended up forging an uneasy symbiosis with their white antagonists - until an extraordinary seam of diamonds erupted in their territory and decades of suppressed trauma burst out in an act of retribution that made headlines across the globe.

Based on six years of immersive reporting and research, WHEN WE SOLD GOD'S EYE tells a unique kind of adventure story, a story of survival against all odds; of the temptations of wealth and the dream of prosperity; of a vital ecosystem threatened by the hunger for natural resources; of genocide and revenge. It's a story as old as the first European encounters with Indigenous people, playing out in the present day. But most of all, it's about a few startlingly clever individuals and their power to adapt - even thrive - in the most unlikely circumstances.

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