The war between supporters and opponents of the military dictatorship in Brazil (1964 to 1985) was long and dirty. What was unknown for two decades was that the final confrontation mobilized fewer than 40 combatants on each side, was silent—almost invisible—and lasted 28 years: from 1979 to 2007. A conflict that thus transcended the dictatorship itself. The final battle of this war was fought by two books: *Brazil: Never Again*—the "bible" on torture practiced by the Armed Forces—and the lesser-known *Orvil*, the Army's response, on guerrilla warfare and left-wing terrorism. The behind-the-scenes details of this battle, in breathtaking detail, are now gathered in the book *An Eye for an Eye: The Secret Books of the Dictatorship*, by journalist Lucas Figueiredo. In the book, Figueiredo—with three Esso Journalism Awards under his belt—reveals the full tension of six years of secret work on "Brazil: Never Again." He also brings to light "Orvil," the nearly thousand-page book the Army produced to counter "Brazil: Never Again," which was never published, thus becoming perhaps the most voluminous secret document of the Armed Forces. After gaining access to one of the fifteen classified copies of "Orvil," the journalist discovered a shocking fact: in the secret book, the Army confesses to involvement in the deaths of two dozen political prisoners and disappeared persons. Lucas Figueiredo was born in Belo Horizonte in 1968. He worked at Folha de S.Paulo as a reporter and chief reporter, and at Estado de Minas as a special reporter. He contributed to "O Estado de S.Paulo," the Brazilian service of BBC Radio London, and the magazines Rolling Stone, Playboy, Caros Amigos, Superinteressante, Revista MTV, Nossa História, and Defue Sud (Belgium), among others. Figueiredo has received the Esso Award, the most prestigious award in Brazilian journalism, three times. In 2007, he won the Reporting award for his series of articles that revealed the contents of Orvil, published simultaneously in Correio Braziliense and Estado de Minas. He has also received the Embratel Press and Folha awards. Figueiredo has authored the books "Morcegos negros" (Black Bats) (2000), "Ministry of Silence" (Ministry of Silence) (2005)—an honorable mention for the Vladimir Herzog Award—and "O técnico" (The Operator) (2006), all published by Record.
