The Putumayo The Devil's Paradise :Travels in the Peruvian Amazon Region and an Account of the Atrocities Committed upon the Indians therein

First Edition, First Printing. Personal account of the 'Putumayo Affair' and international scandal. Personal account by Hardenburg who, on his way from Panama to visit the Amazon, stumbled upon the atrocities being committed under the auspices of Julio Arana, a local rubber baron living in Iguitos, Peru. This occurred in the early 1900s when rubber was in demand world-wide and fortunes were made but labor was exploited. Hardenburg saw first-hand the maltreatment of the Huitoto Indians who were forced to tap rubber trees. Arana was the local representative of a British rubber concern and Hardenburg took it upon himself to travel to London to expose what was going on the British having no idea of the situation. After years of rejection, the British press finally published his story and the entire 'Putumayo Affair' became an international scandal. Includes extracts from the famous report of Sir Roger Casement confirming the occurrences. (Casement was knighted in 1911 for his investigations into the genocide of tribal inhabitations of the Congo Free State and the Indian natives of the Putumayo region in the Amazon rainforest.)

Near fine in original dark blue buckram with gold stamped cover and across the spine; top edge gilt; frontispiece with tissue guard (tipped in); 16 black and white photographs; 1 fold-out map; no dust jacket, as issued. Binding square and tight; boards with minor edge wear; head and tail of spine light wear; Ex-lib, with library plates on front and rear boards; near fine internally with text bright, clean and unmarred. 8vo. 347 pp. An excellent copy of this historic work.