A Brazilian Mystic

This kind of book is bound to find its way, and shortly, to an old bookstall, there to be sold with other bargains for a penny... for it treats of unfamiliar people and of a life unknown and unsuspected by the general. -from the Preface Wild with flamboyant prose and content to document an extraordinary life with as much vigor as it was lived, Cunninghame Graham's 1919 biography of Antonio Vicente Mendes Maciel-also called Anthony the Counselor-is as unconventional as its subject. A tax protester, itinerant preacher, and general nuisance to both the Brazilian government and the religious establishment, Antonio entrenched himself, 1893 and with, eventually, more than 30,000 followers, in the town of Canudos, which he founded. What led him to that point, and what transpired afterward (hint: the Brazilian authorities did not take kindly to the settlement of what they considered a rebel enclave), Cunninghame Graham explores in his inimitable style: When a man is convinced, as was Antonio Conselheiro-for without doubt he was quite honest in his faith in himself-that he is God's viceregent upon earth, nothing more natural than he should make himself obeyed. [could be cut if too long; just change colon above to period] Today, with our culture rife with divisive political and religious issues, Antonio's tale-and Cunninghame Graham's weather-eye take on it-\still speaks to us. Scottish writer and politician ROBERT BONTINE CUNNINGHAME GRAHAM (1852-1936) served as a member of Parliament and president of both the Scottish Labour Party and the Scottish National Party. His writing career encompassed essays, short fiction, and books of his extensive travels in South America.