MASTERS OF THE LOST LAND
Anchored by a gripping narrative of true crime and political drama, Masters of the Lost Land is a piece of investigative journalism that unveils the hidden interests and forces behind the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon rain forest.
Following a four-decade battle for social justice by the Costa family, the book describes how a powerful network of “rural businessmen” exporting their commodities worldwide have turned a small town in Para State, Brazil, into a lawless territory dominated by fraud, land-grabbers, drug traffickers, and environmental offenders.
Unfolding largely unobserved in the planet’s last frontier, Masters of the Lost Land brings the reader into a region where Indigenous tribes are expelled, activists are murdered in cold blood, and opponents are threatened while impunity reigns for the perpetrators. Until one day, an extraordinary, ordinary woman decides to stand up and fight for justice, memory, and honor.
Published by Custom House in the US and by Atlantic in the UK in early 2023.
CHINA'S SILENT ARMY
Published in 2013, China's Silent Army was a piece of investigative journalism exposing the dark side of China’s rise to become a global superpower.
From 2009 to 2011, years before Beijing announced its Belt and Road Initiative, the authors travelled to some 25 developing countries —from Turkmenistan to DRC, from Venezuela to Iran—to uncover how Chinese state-owned companies and Chinese policy banks had emerged as key players in the economies of mining-, oil-, and land-rich countries, eventually beating their Western competitors.
Often, the conditions of these deals, sealed in murky contracts that were never made available to the public, have been portrayed by Beijing as a “win-win” cooperation. Through some 500 interviews and access to unpublished documents, the authors—at the time, two Beijing-based journalists—expose a system marred by lack of accountability and transparency that shows how China is exporting its development model throughout the planet. A system where, as in China, the weakest are the ultimate victims.
China's Silent Army has been translated into eleven languages.
"A a powerful piece of investigative journalism." —The Guardian
“A fascinating book about a topic of great importance.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Highly readable…. An important summary of some of the worst Chinese behaviour around the world.” —The Economist
“[A] pioneering investigation….The book cuts to the political core by defining China’s behaviour abroad as a mirror of its system at home.” —Sunday Times
“Excellent macro-economic insights….But ultimately the human stories are what make [China’s Silent Army] so compelling….It ought to be required reading.” —Prospect
“The amount of reporting that went into China’s Silent Army is truly impressive.” —Financial Times
“Lively and humane….[China’s Silent Army] offers essential information for all who wish to learn how the global reach of China Inc is transforming the lives of everyone on this planet.” —Literary Review
“An excellent piece of investigative journalism….China’s Silent Army is the first book to give such detailed coverage to the greatest Chinese emigration in history, which is changing the world, and to record the voices of those who are taking part….If you want to understand how China is changing the planet, read this book.” —South China Morning Post
LA IMPARABLE CONQUISTA CHINA
A kind of sequel to China’s Silent Army, La Imparable Conquista China, originally published in Spanish, presents a fresh, vivid, and accessible account of the changes in the current status quo, especially in Europe, through the lens of China’s rise.
The book explores how Beijing is gaining influence in the West by both investing in strategic sectors and deploying an ambitious, often aggressive diplomacy that not only pursues the economic interests of China but also attempts to silence criticism over human rights abuses and the future of Tibet, Taiwan, or Xinjiang.
The authors traveled to some 15 countries, from Greece to the Vatican and from Greenland to the city of London, to write about how China, Inc. is expanding its presence in Europe.
Published in 2015, the book has been translated into four languages.