The Rebellion of the Hanged

The Rebellion of the Hanged is the fifth of B. Traven’s six legendary Jungle Novels which together form an epic of the birth of the Mexican Revolution. Set in the slave-labor mahogany plantations of tropical Mexico in 1910, at the time of the uprising against the rule of Porfirio Diaz and the beginnings of revolution, Rebellion is a powerful and somber tale of the tortures suffered by downtrodden Indians. But here it culminates in a revolt by the long-oppressed workers against the owners and overseers of the camps, and in a treacherous march through the jungles at the height of the rainy season–a human feat of epic proportions. In addition to his great storytelling ability, Traven’s work has a special resonance today because of recent uprisings in the Chiapas highlands of southern Mexico, the very locale for many of Traven’s writings. “Readers who ignore the genius of B. Traven do so at their peril.”–New York Times Book Review. “Traven is a riveting storyteller.”–Philadelphia Inquirer.