Red Gold: The Conquest of the Brazilian Indians, 1500-1760 by John Henry Hemming (1935- ) - 1978

xvii+677 pages with figures, plates, maps, illustrations, tables, appendix, references cited and index. Royal octavo (9 1/2" x 6 1/4") bound in original publisher's red cloth with gilt lettering to spine in original pictorial jacket. First edition. Red Gold covers the history of the Brazilian Indians from 1500 to 1760, from the point of first contact through to their conquest by the Portuguese. The first contacts between Europeans and stone-age natives aroused mutual wonder and even admiration. The Indians appeared to the Portuguese as "people good and of pure simplicity" and so the myth of the "noble savage" was born. The whites seemed god-like beings whom the Indians venerated for the metal knives and axes which would help them wrest a living from the jungle. However, this uneasy friendship was not to last. The colonists revealed themselves as brutal, greed-fueled men who abused the hospitality of the Indians, using their women as concubines and their men as slaves. As if this wasn't enough. European disease and tribal vendettas - stirred by the colonists - depleted and depopulated the tribes. This terrifically comprehensive history of the impact of European settlement, details the subjugation of almost 2,500,000 people, and starts a historical trilogy of breathtaking ambition. Condition: Corners gently bumped, spine ends and corers lightly rubbed, page ends lightly soiled. Jacket spine sunned else better than very good in a near fine jacket.