(5 votes, average: 3.20 out of 5)
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Product Description
Revised and updated in this second edition, Brazil: Five Centuries of Change vividly traces the development of Brazil over the last 500 years. Author Thomas E. Skidmore, a preeminent authority on Brazil, provides a lively political and economic narrative while also including relevant details on society and culture. Skidmore’s major revision of the colonial chapters begins with the discovery of Brazil by Pedro Alvares Cabral and includes Portugal’s remarkable command of the vast country in the face of Spanish, French, and Dutch colonial interests. The text goes on to cover the move of the Portuguese monarchy to Brazil in 1808, the country’s independence in 1822, establishment of the Empire within the context of expansion of the coffee trade, the importance of slavery in nineteenth-century Brazil, and the move towards abolition. This second edition offers an unparallelled look at Brazil in the twentieth century, including in-depth coverage of the 1930 revolution and Vargas’s rise to power; the ensuing unstable democratic period and the military coups that followed; and the reemergence of democracy in 1985. It concludes with the recent presidency of Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva, covering such economic successes as record-setting exports, dramatic foreign debt reduction, and improved income distribution. The second edition features numerous new images and a new bibliographic guide to recent works on Brazilian history for use by both instructors and students.
Informed by the most recent scholarship available, Brazil: Five Centuries of Change, Second Edition, explores the country’s many blessings–ethnic diversity, racial democracy, a vibrant cultural life, and a wealth of natural resources. It also looks at Brazil’s historically severe problems–including political instability, military rule, chronic inflation, and international debt–and its deplorable environmental record. An ideal choice for undergraduate and graduate courses in Latin American history, this eloquent and detailed look at Brazil will be the standard history of the country for years to come.Amazon.com Review
Europeans first became aware of the huge territory called Brazil as a distant outpost of what the Portuguese conquerors called the Estado de India, a far-flung “network of coastal enclaves running along the Indian Ocean, from Mozambique, around the Malabar coast of India, and all the way to Macao on the coast of China.” Thomas Skidmore, a noted historian of Latin America, writes that it quickly emerged as something more, however: a near-fabulous land of opportunity. An early gold rush outside Rio de Janeiro confirmed this view, and Brazil attracted huge numbers of immigrants, so many that the Portuguese crown was forced to limit the number of young men who attempted to leave their native country in favor of the newfound promised land. And, for a time, Skidmore continues, Brazil indeed led the world in the production of gold, diamonds, and other precious gems and minerals, making considerable fortunes for a lucky few. Governmental ineptitude assured that Brazil never translated that wealth into a comfortable life for all its inhabitants, a condition that has endured to the present. Skidmore traces the history of Brazil from the time of the European conquest to the late 1990s, yielding a highly useful one-volume history that students and general readers alike will enjoy. –Gregory McNamee
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Amazon Average Rating 4.0/5.0
Brazil: Five Centuries of Change
This book is very INACCURATE with a lots of wrong information. The Empire in Brazil was quite impressive and I desagree with one other reviewers below. The Brazilian Empire was connectect with the Portuguese, Austro-Hungarian and French monarchies. The colonial period had great moments and events too e. g. Tiradents and his movement of independence was a great moment in Brazilian history. Isabel of Brazil (Princess Isabel) was the first woman with real POLITICAL POWER in the
Americas and the gettleman below doesn’t really understand this. He is very inaccurate and not very academic in his view. The person wrote the review below (if he is Brazilian) should not be critizing the book, because his review is very inacurrate too. Modern Brazilian history also have great figures like Getúlio Vargas, Juscelino, Paulo Freire
and now Lula -as well as personalities like Alberto Santos-Dumont and Villa-Lobos.
The author of Brazil: Five Centuries of Change is very BIASED and most of the time he only shows the negative points of Brazilian history, forgetting all the good things and all the great heroes of Brazil’s past. In my view he is another American trying to show the world that USA is the only good country in the world, that his country (the USA) has the best history in the entire world. A country that still trys to
deny racism, terrible slavery, the Trail of Tears and so much more. I
know Brazil still has a problem with INEQUALITIES but the USA certainly does as well. Today Brazil is one of the biggest industrail regions in the world and also one of the EMERGING POWERS.
I am a geography professor and if I were a history professor I would never use a book like this in my class. Again the book is very BIASED and INACCURATE. Don’t read it – don’t buy it. Read A HISTORY OF BRAZIL, because it is better written and really shows the History of Brazil.
Rating: 1 / 5
This is a pretty good, reasonably concise overview of Brazilian History. It is not difficult reading, and you should be able to get a decent understanding of Brazilian history.
Skidmore even understands economics to some extent, and includes some useful economic history, despite some rather ridiculous left wing statements in other parts of the book.
Rating: 4 / 5
This is a good synopsis of Brazil’s history although it offers little new or fresh. Useful for students writing papers or trying to learn about Brazil.
Rating: 3 / 5
Thomas Skidmore, a renowned scholar of Brazilian history, has produced a well-written general history of Brazil which is ideal for an audience who might not be very familiar with the history of the largest country in Latin America. Brazil: Five Centuries of Change begins with the discovery of Brazil five hundred years ago and continues through the colonial period, the transition to an Empire and later Republic, leading up to the term of the current president, Cardoso. Throughout the book, Skidmore takes pains to highlight and analyze the origins of the social divisions and inequalities which characterize modern Brazil. Well written and concise, it is recommended for the library of the scholar of Latin American history or anyone wishing to know more about this fascinating country.
Rating: 4 / 5
I bought this book to prepare me for a move from the States to Brasil. A Brazilian friend responded immediately to the mention of the author’s name, saying that he’s one of the most respected non-Brazilian historians of Brazilian history. He also said that the complaints given by other reviewers on this site were reflecting the Historical Revisionist camp. So regardless of one’s position, Skidmore’s book gives an excellent representation of the traditional historical view of Brazilian history.
I’m about halfway through it at this point, and I can say that it is very readable, very interesting, quite blunt and realistic about the suffering of slaves and native Brazilians, nevertheless does not stand on a soapbox, and I’m quite inspired by the understanding of the Brazilian spirit that I’m getting.
Rating: 4 / 5