Paul Sullivanis an independent scholar and anthropologist. He is the author ofUnfinished Conversations: Mayas and Foreigners Between Two Wars.

"Under layers of greed lust anger and envy Sullivan discovers a treasure trove of Yucatan history. Xuxub was to borrow a metaphor from science a butterfly that fluttered its wings and sent a ripple of discord to far-flung places."

Today foreigners travel to the Yucatan for ruins temples and pyramids white sand beaches and clear blue water. One hundred years ago they went for cheap labor an abundance of land and the opportunity to make a fortune exporting cattle henequen fiber sugarcane or rum. Sometimes they found death. In 1875 an American plantation manager named Robert Stephens and a number of his workers were murdered by a band of Maya rebels. To this day no one knows why. Was it the result of feuding between aristocratic families for greater power and wealth? Was it the foreseeable consequence of years of oppression and abuse of Maya plantation workers? Was a rebel leader seeking money and fame-or perhaps retribution for the loss of the woman he loved? For whites the events that took place at Xuxub Stephens's plantation are virtually unknown even though they engendered a diplomatic and legal dispute that vexed Mexican-U.S. relations for over six decades. The construction of "official" histories allowed the very name of Xuxub to die much as the plantation itself was subsumed by the jungle. For the Maya however what happened at Xuxub is more than a story they pass down through generations-it is a defining moment in how they see themselves. Sullivan masterfully weaves the intricately tangled threads of this story into a fascinating account of human accomplishments and failings in which good and evil are never quite what they seem at first and truth proves to be elusive.Xuxub Must Dieseeks not only to fathom a mystery but also to explore the nature of guilt blame and understanding.