This book will one day be important to historians who would deal with the development of thought concerning agrarian reform or to those who would analyze the conflicting intellectual currents of Brazil’s attempting to emerge as a major world power. It tells us nothing of the past, however, except for a brief characterization of the fazendeiro as a sort of pioneer culture-hero, carving his home out of the jungle and making Brazil a fit place for women and children. Most of the rest of the book is straightforward pamphleteering which juxtaposes “the Faith” and “private property” against “Socialism,” “Communism,” and “the predominant State.” Pontifical documents and Thomas Aquinas are virtually the only sources cited; the few tables and statistical summaries that, in the original, offered some specific data concerning the contemporary situation with respect to landholding in the nation have been omitted from this translation.
Although historians and social scientists may be frustrated by this static, almost medieval, disquisition on a social problem which is of unquestioned significance but which is never really addressed in realistic terms, they must recognize the importance of any book that has sold more than 30,000 copies in four editions and has stimulated considerable controversy in Brazil. It tells nothing about agrarian reform, actual or projected, in legal, economic, political, or social terms; it does tell a great deal about the religious and nationalistic views of a portion of the population who fear they will soon be eclipsed.
