Thy Will Be Done: The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil(25 Forbidden Bookshelf)

A "blistering exposé" of the USA's secret history of financial, political, and cultural exploitation of Latin America in the 20th century, with a new introduction (Publishers Weekly). What happened when a wealthy industrialist and a visionary evangelist unleashed forces that joined to subjugate an entire continent? Historians Gerard Colby and Charlotte Dennett tell the story of the forty-year campaign led by Standard Oil scion Nelson Rockefeller and Wycliffe Bible Translators founder William Cameron Townsend to establish a US imperial beachhead in Central and South America. Beginning in the 1940s, future Vice President Rockefeller worked with the CIA and allies in the banking industry to prop up repressive governments, devastate the Amazon rain forest, and destabilize local economies--all in the name of anti-Communism. Meanwhile, Townsend and his army of missionaries sought to undermine the belief systems of the region's indigenous peoples and convert them to Christianity. Their combined efforts would have tragic and long-lasting repercussions, argue the authors of this "well-documented" (Los Angeles Times) book--the product of eighteen years of research--which legendary progressive historian Howard Zinn called "an extraordinary piece of investigative history. Its message is powerful, its data overwhelming and impressive."

About the Author :
Gerard Colby is a writer, investigative journalist, and educator. He has written for the North American Newspaper Alliance, the Nation, the Los Angeles Times, In These Times, and TowardFreedom.com. Colby has taught the history of the political economy of Central America at Burlington College and political science and international economics at Johnson State College in Vermont, and is currently studying for a master's degree in American history at the University of Vermont. Colby is a cofounder of the Henry Demarest Lloyd Investigative Fund and former president of the National Writers Union. He is the author of DuPont Dynasty: Behind the Nylon Curtain, coauthor with Charlotte Dennett of Thy Will Be Done: The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil, and a contributor to Into the Buzzsaw: Leading Journalists Expose the Myth of a Free Press, edited by Kristina Borjesson. Charlotte Dennett is an investigative journalist, author, and attorney. Her journalism career started in Beirut, Lebanon, at the weekly English language feature magazine, The Middle East Sketch, and at the Beirut Daily Star, where she was a reporter. Her journalistic work took her throughout the Middle East and later, while researching Thy Will Be Done, Latin America. Dennett is also the author of The People v. Bush: One Lawyer's Campaign to Bring the President to Justice. Her articles have appeared in the Huffington Post, the Nation, the Los Angeles Times, and the Philadelphia Inquirer, among others.

Review :
"This well-documented, clearly written book alerts us to the immense suffering and damage in the Amazon and elsewhere caused by multinational corporate greed and ultraconservative religious ardor, headquartered in the United States and abetted by covert foreign policies. The systematic violations against human dignity and ecological integrity continue and can only be stopped by being brought to light. To that end, this book does a highly commendable job." --Los Angeles Times "This damning thesis, based on substantial field research, interviews, and fresh documentation, will provoke considerable controversy. Highly recommended." --Library Journal "Astounding . . . A disheartening, tragic story that needs to be told and will attract much attention." --Booklist "An extraordinary piece of investigative history. Its message is powerful, its data overwhelming and impressive. Thy Will Be Done deserves wide attention." --Howard Zinn, professor emeritus of history, Boston University, and author of A People's History of the United States