For the full span of the 17th century, a nation of as many as 20,000 people struggled to survive in the interior of Brazil. It was called the Quilombo de Palmares. The population included fugitive slaves, Indians, a few whites, at least one Muslim, possibly some Jews. For almost a hundred years they fought off the most powerful empires in the world. They lived in large towns scattered through the hills of Pernambuco until, in desperation, they built a citadel fortress on a mountain, there to make their last stand. Their last king, Zumi, was an educated many who knew latin and had presumably studied the classics of Europe. He had been born in Palmares, captured as an infant and raised by a priest until he ran off to his birthplace to become the military leader and then king. This is not fiction. It really happened. "Quilombo dos Palmares: Brazil's Lost Nation of Fugitive Slaves" is the most comprehensive and carefully researched book on this topic and the only book on it in English.