The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the book "The Burning Season: The Murder of Chico Mendes and the Fight for the Amazon" by Andrew Revkin. Specifically it will contain a summary of the book. "The Burning Season" tells the story of Chico Mendes, the leader of the Brazilian rubber-tappers union who was brutally murdered by opposing factions in Brazil.
             The 2004 edition of the book opens with a new Forward by the author, which basically explains what has gone on since the first edition of the book came out, and discusses the growing problem of climate change and global warming. In the Forward he writes, "The notion was finally beginning to emerge that humans around the world, from those driving cars in Detroit to those burning trees in Brazil, were wedded through their shared ability to alter the dynamics of the atmosphere and climate" (Revkin xiv). This then, is the real thesis of this book that chronicles the man who has become a martyr to his country and much of the world. Mendes was fighting for the rights of the rubber-tappers, but also for the rain forest, which is so rapidly disappearing, and so this book discusses his life and tragic death, but also the work he was attempting and still needs to be completed. The tappers that Mendes led had used the forest for decades, making their living by tapping rubber trees and harvesting Brazil nuts, while wealthy cattlemen wanted to slash and burn the forest to enlarge their cattle grazing lands. Mendes formed a union to help save the forests and the natives livelihoods, and ultimately, he paid with his life. The deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is the worst on the planet, and is a major contributor to global warming and greenhouse gases, and so, halting this destruction is not only key to the native's survival, it is key to the planet's survival, and that is what Revkin is attempting to show in this book.
             The author makes it clear that Mende...