Euclides Rodrigues Pimenta da Cunha (1866-1909) was a Brazilian writer whose account of the clash between the Brazilian army and fanatic followers of a backwoods mystic became a national classic.

Euclides da Cunha was born in the province of Rio de Janeiro on Jan. 20, 1866. Orphaned at the age of 3, he was raised by aunts, interned in various boarding schools, and shuffled around a great deal. He was always moody, reserved, lonely, and unpredictable. At 18 he enrolled in the military academy, where he specialized in military engineering. Two years later he apparently suffered a nervous breakdown that led to a court-martial and dismissal for insubordination, but he was reinstated. The incident may already have reflected an abhorrence for war. In 1896 he resigned from the army as a first lieutenant and subsequently took up civil engineering while writing occasional newspaper articles.

When, in 1897, the army was forced to dispatch a...