Colin M. MacLachlan, one of the finest sociocultural historians of his generation, here offers a highly reflective, readable book on modern Brazil. It is not a dry monograph packed with footnotes, interviews, and a serious reading of dusty archival documents. Instead, it is a lively (even chatty) volume that mines his mature appreciation of Brazil, serious knowledge of its history, culture, and o povão, and rare access to the country’s leading intellectuals and politico-economic elites. It also exhibits a bit of sentimentalism from a historian who has seen the best and the worst of Brazil. It is a kind of book that can only be written by a seasoned historian of MacLachlan’s stature, and both novice and advanced scholars will readily appreciate his keen insights and graceful writing style.
The structure of the book is more thematic than chronological. The first four chapters deftly cover 450 years of Brazilian...
