Destructive patterns of Amazonian evolution are now infecting relatively untouched Northern Brazil - driven by the gold rush and demographic and economic forces from the South. The Forest Frontier assesses whether the Northern Amazonian States can avoid the same pressures and problems that affect the peoples and environments of the South. It examines the social and environmental nature of land development in Roraima, the most northerly of the Brazilian Amazonian states. Possessing most of the classic problems facing other States as well as containing a combination of political, cultural and environmental features, Roraima's development is at a frontier. Offering a critical assessment of the nature and pace of agricultural advance into Roraima, The Forest Frontier will provide a better understanding to plan for the inevitable development to come.