James P. Woodard’s book A Place in Politics: São Paulo, Brazil, from Seigneurial Republicanism to Regionalist Revolt is very ambitious in its objectives, since it seeks to cover a period of São Paulo society that despite being chronologically short, from the 1880s to the 1930s, is notably complex. Within this period of 50 years, the state of São Paulo went from being an inconsequential and secondary province to become the richest and most powerful state in the Brazilian federation with the greatest concentration of industries in Brazil. The author starts by observing that there are a number of valuable studies focused on specific issues with regard to this intricate period, fundamental for the configuration of modern Brazil, but no study covers the entire set of transformations. And this is what stands out about his project: it does not adhere to traditional issues of the historiography of this period but takes...

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