World Bibliographical Series. Vol. LVII. Brazil

This is the sixth volume in the World Bibliographical Series that deals with a Latin American country. Like its predecessors, it is intended for the general reader rather than the specialist. This bibliography seeks to provide an introduction to the literature on Brazil “that will express its culture, its place in the world, and the qualities and background that make it unique” (p. v). Bryant has followed this policy closely, compiling a total of 803 briefly annotated entries in 36 categories, ranging from archeology to urbanization. She does not attempt to duplicate earlier, more specialized bibliographies, such as those by Francis Dutra, Robert Levine, and Thomas Skidmore, which are listed in this work. She does include a few standard titles from the past, but has focused primarily on works in English published or reprinted since 1970. Nearly half of the entries are journal articles or individual chapters from collective studies on Brazil or Latin America. By far the largest section is literature with over 100 titles, predominantly of Brazilian novels and poems available in English translation. The section on history consists of only 50 titles, although historians will also find much of interest among the 200-odd entries under society and social conditions, politics and government, foreign relations, economy, business and industry, and agriculture. In addition, perusal of other sections will turn up such classics as Thomas Ewbank’s Life in Brazil and Henry Koster’s Travels in Brazil, listed under geography, or Henry Walter Bates’s The Naturalist on the River Amazon, and Theodore Roosevelt’s Through the Brazilian Wilderness, under flora and fauna. There is a short subsection dealing with women in Brazil, and pertinent related works are scattered throughout the collection. The chief value of this bibliography for the historian of Latin America is its currency and breadth. As a pedagogical aid it should serve as a useful introduction to the field for undergraduates looking for interesting research topics and for graduate students just beginning to specialize in the history of Brazil. For these reasons it should be a welcome addition to every college and university library.