h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This entry seems to follow the true nature of the guide, by being wildly innacurate.

One of the main reasons Canudos got the attention of the authorities was the fact it was serving has safe heaven for "bandidos" to go to ground when evading justice. Also, it wouldn't submit to the government, mantaining a satatus of independence from the constituted powers, not paying taxes nor allowing police authorities ti enter. At that time, there was hundreds of other prophets like Antonio Conselheiro, and that weird relion pratice was pretty much accepted by everyone, so it wasn't a religios/filosophical or whatever dispute that brought the heat on Antonio Conselheiro and his followers.

Regardless of the "fictionalized" version of the story (which I never got a chance of reading), if you want to look into what happened, hard facts about the military campaing (or rather, the military fiasco, since the government troops got their ass wiped twice by some near starving bandidos, outnumbered 50 to 1 in the second assault!) the recomended book should be "OS SERTÕES - campanha de canudos" by Euclides da Cunha.

Interesting facts like that the granades the military used usually failad to explode because the buildings were made of straw, and other cool snipets can be found there.

Just prepare yourselfe, it's a large book, a somewhat difficult reading and probably less exiting than the fiction version.

It's a Brazilian literature classic, tough.

cheers.

Fairy Dos. I was working from the novel mentioned, plus some papers I found on the web. While they did sound reasonably academic and sensible, I did find them on the web. I seem to remember they had a go at the book you mention, so there may have been a bit of academic sniping in there as well. Its always a problem finding unbiased history

The "safe haven for bandidos" idea is actually a piece of government propaganda. You may have read "Os Sertões", but you hardly understood it. The article is not "wildly innacurate"; your view of the facts is.