The longest civil war in the history of Brazil. The conquest and colonization of the uncivilized territories of Rio Grande do Sul. The undeniable contribution of immigrants to the richness of Brazilian society and culture.
Moacyr Scliar explores these and other themes that are crucial to the formation of Rio Grande do Sul as we know it today, in a novel that mixes reality and fiction. In the early 19th century, Johann Schmidt’s family decides to emigrate from Germany to the extreme south of Brazil in search of better living conditions. After an arduous journey, the family arrives in Rio Grande do Sul and begins farming the land as settlers. Before long, Franz and Rudolph, Johann’s sons, abandon farming to join the Farroupilha rebels, led by Bento Gonçalves and Giuseppe Garibaldi, who in the 1830s pursued ideals of justice and independence from the imperial government.
