Synopses & Reviews
As the most comprehensive introduction to Brazil available in English,
Brazil: The Once and Future Country shows Brazil to be a land of the marvelous and the mystical, the sublime and the tragic. Marshall Eakin describes a country defined by paradoxes: immense wealth surrounded by widespread poverty, a modern industrial infrastructure alongside an outmoded agricultural system, a largely white South and a Northeastern coast that is overwhelmingly of African descent. Eakin chronicles Brazils development from its origins in the sixteenth century, when it was created as a by-product of European imperial expansion, to the present day. He takes the reader from the hovels of São Paolo to the pleasure palaces of Rio de Janeiro and all places in between to show the rich cultural mix that is Brazil.
Brazil: The Once and Future Country is a fascinating read that anyone interested in Brazil will want. It is also the perfect book for the traveler, armchair or otherwise, interested in this endlessly fascinating country.
Review
"...a riveting introduction to the basic events and trends in Brazilian history, politics, economy, society and culture."
--Booklist
Review
“...a riveting introduction to the basic events and trends in Brazilian history, politics, economy, society and culture.” —
Booklist“Eakin draws on 20 years of experience visiting and writing about Brazil to produce an eloquent and informative overview, the best short survey of Brazil since the anthropologist Charles Wagley's 1963 classic, An Introduction to Brazil.” —Foreign Affairs
Synopsis
The best one-volume introduction to the history, politics and culture of Brazil.
About the Author
Marshall C. Eakin is an associate professor of History at Vanderbilt University and the author of
British Enterprise in Brazil: The St. John d'el Rey Mining Company and the Morro Velho Gold Mine, 1830-1960. Table of Contents
Preface * Introduction: The Country of the Future? * The Presence of the Past * The Brazilian Archipelago * Lusotropical Civilization * Power and Patronage * A Flawed Industrial Revolution * Conclusion: The Once and Future Country * Appendices * Suggested Readings in English