The Amazon Rubber Boom, 1850-1920

The first complete account of the rise and fall of the rubber economy in Brazil provides a dramatic example of one of the "boom and bust" cycles traditionally associated with Brazilian economic history. The Amazon rubber trade was one of the most important export booms in the history of Latin America, dominating the economic life of the Amazon for 70 years until the successful cultivation of rubber trees by the British in Southeast Asia. Yet this long period of vigorous economic activity le...