Summary

In Chapter 9, “It Was Milk”, Valera became involved in the burgeoning rubber industry in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, during World War Two. Native Brazilians (referred to in the novel as “Indians”) were employed as rubber tappers in the rainforest and would work on credit, meaning that Valera did not have to pay anyone up front in order to start exporting the rubber. The conditions the natives worked in were brutal and the workers were just barely able to survive. Valera was successfully producing his own motorcycles and was now expanding into the tire industry. Benito Mussolini, the Fascist Prime Minister of Italy, had requisitioned Valera’s stock for the military and Valera’s company was now devoted to making replacement parts for Nazi Germany’s troops. Valera had to develop his tire business in secret, but it flourished nonetheless. The chapter ended in...