In September 1910, the activist Roger Casement arrived in the Amazon jungle on a mission for the British government: to investigate reports of widespread human-rights abuses in the forests along the Putumayo River. Casement was outraged by what he uncovered: nearly thirty thousand Indians had died to produce four thousand tons of rubber for Peruvian and British commercial interests, under the brutal rubber baron Julio César Arana. In 1912, Casement’s seven-hundred-page report of the Putumayo violence set off reverberations throughout the world. Drawing on a wealth of original research, The Devil and Mr. Casement is a haunting story of modern capitalism with enormous contemporary political resonance.

“A fine and meticulous book…adds to Casement’s reputation as a pioneer of the human rights movement’s tactics, including the on-the-spot investigation, and the leveraging of public outrage to spur reform.” —Greg Grandin, The New York Times Book Review

“With vivid touches of imagination and humor, Goodman captures the drama and paradox of Casement’s varied life.” —The New Yorker

“Goodman motors the pace and stokes suspense with cliff-hanger chapter endings and a dramatic courtroom trial….The Devil and Mr. Casement is delicately presented less as a tale of atrocities than as one of all-too-familiar corporate greed, diplomatic red tape, conflicting politics, and the shifting influence of the West in South America.” —The Miami Herald

“A fast-paced account of [a] groundbreaking effort to hold corporations accountable for their misdeeds, as well as a detailed portrait of Casement.” —Mother Jones

“Goodman’s journalistic narrative is a reminder of the devastation that greed can cause and the good work that can be done by a few good men.” —Shepherd Express (Milwaukee)