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Rebellion in the Backlands doesn't constitute the only, nor the first text to deal with genocide resulting from the shock between the National Army, championed by the Republican ideal at that time recently implanted - the Republic was established in 1889 and the skirmishes in the interior of the State of Bahia began in 1896 -, and the command of AntÐ"Ò'nio Conselheiro. Euclides da Cunha was preceded by himself, since in 1897, he sent out from the trenches of the war, dispatches, published in the press, narrating the events of the day. Then, during the same year chronicles by Machado de Assis, Olavo Bilac and Afonso Arinos laid out the positions - divergent amongst themselves - of the players, characterizing the controversial manner with which the conflict had been revealed to public opinion.

Perhaps, however, not one of these texts, including the curious romance of Afonso Arinos,Os JagunÐ"§os (The Ruffians ) written in 1898, favorable to the insurgents, would have awakened the attention and the interest of the reader, if it were not for the detailed, polemic and emotional work of Euclides da Cunha. A work that didn't fit neatly into the known literary genders, constituted right from its appearance an obligatory and indispensable reference to all those who desired to understand Brazil of the past and the present, a nation of confrontations between the powerful and the humble, landowners and the dispossessed, the owners of the truth and the faithful.

If the passage of time doesn't stop reaffirming the importance of a work such asOs SertÐ"µes , at the same time the problems with the written text have increased.Os SertÐ"µes doesn't make for easy reading. Structured into three parts -A Terra, O Homem, A Luta [The Land, The Man, The Fight] -, it imposes on the reader, right from the beginning, a detailed and full descriptions of technical observations about the space where the colony of Canudos established itself, this space is viscerally opposed to the notion of exuberant nature and fertile legacy for the romantic tradition: the earth, arid and dry, repels the visitor, doesn't give in to civilization, doesn't allow for anything.

In the same manner, the text of Euclides shows itself to be twisted with the scenario, the cross wind is arduous and the result, not necessarily very successful. The fascination of the writer's prose doesn't come from his malleability, but from the challenges that are set out with every step. On an examination of the location, the study ensues on the human being, generated, on one part, by the history of the occupation of this territory, and on the other, by the type of ethnic miscegenation that established itself there, given the separation between this universe and that of coastal Brazil, acclimatized to the civilization and directed towards progress.

Euclides, impregnated with the racial theories of the 19th century, expresses biases today inadmissible, exposed, nonetheless, in a passionate manner, given the diligence in offering explanations for the social contradictions that his generation, educated within Positivism, did not manage to understand. The anthropological paradigm appears to be, therefore, very useful since, fitted within it, Euclides interprets the appearance of figures such as AntÐ"Ò'nio Conselheiro, according to him a superfluity justified by the particular conditions of that region.

The most substantial part of the book is dedicated to the narrative of the fighting, relating the reasons that had led to the armed conflict, with emphasis on the four expeditions that attempted, until they were successful, to subjugate the untamed followers of the Conselheiro. Euclides dwells especially on the two final expeditions, highlighting both the tragic destiny of Moreira CÐ"©sar and those he commanded and the melancholic success of the victors, who found among the final defenders of the citadel the very old and the very young.

If the scientific approach dominates the initial text, then emotion nourishes the final part. Euclides gave himself over to the admiration and eulogy of the victors, people who, primarily underestimated by the writer, were capable of conquering his respect, which went on to highlight the bravery and acumen of the militants of the Conselheiro cause. The stylistic work does not fade, but the subjectivity of the author emerges, contradicting the partisanship of the beginning and of the basic theories. Much of the greatness ofOs SertÐ"µes comes from this, carrying the reader with it, so that every time more with the passing of time, he becomes a sympathizer of the popular cause therein exposed.

The grandiosity of the project and the sophistication of the language run together, making themselves responsible for the difficulties of reading throughOs SertÐ"µes , minimized, however, by the treatment of the theme and the originality of the panorama. As if that problem were not enough, the reading ofOs SertÐ"µes can be imperiled if the reader does not choose an adequate edition.

The problem arose with the work itself, which Euclides completed in 1901 and took to the editor Laemmert, with a view to publishing it. He