Brazil: Five Centuries of Change (Latin American Histories)

The book starts well with an overall introduction of Brazil's regions with geographical, economic, historic and demographic information. it brings good maps including a very interesting one with other countries' maps draped inside Brazil's map showing how huge is the territory (bigger than the continental US). From page 5 it goes downhill only recovering at around page 130. The way the book covers the colonial period is plain useless. The 322 years of Colonial Brazil are rushed in only 31 pages. Important events are forgotten and others are distorted. The Dutch invasion is described in the traditional single sided way. The Dutch occupation and posterior expulsion is regarded as the "Birth of Brazilian Nationalism" without considering the fair amount of Brazilians that saw in the occupation an opportunity of a better future under the rule of the Dutch. Domingo Calabar, in my opinion one of the few Brazilian heroes is not even mentioned.

The episode known as the "Inconfindencia Mineira" is once more glamorized and reported with a pomp that surpass the real importance of the movement. The Imperial period is a little bit better than the Colonial period but not quite. Many glitches can be found. Important popular upheavals like the so called "Confederacao do Equador" didn't receive more than one paragraph in the book. After the advent of the republic the dominance of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais with a minor participation of RioGrande do Sul is not mentioned. Therefore the situation that culminated with Vargas coup d'etat cannot be understood only by reading the book. The book gets better with the 1930 "revolution" and presents good insights on Brazil's society during the following 65 years.

Inaccuracies are found in way too many places. Brazil's discovery date is mistakenly reported as April 23 1500 when it was actually April 22. The "Dia do Fico" (I shall stay day) is confusingly reported as September 7, 1822. The "Dia do Fico" was actually January 9, 1822 and the subsequent half year of pressure and negotiation that culminated on Brazil's independence, now September 7, is totally ignored. Dom Pedro I, the first ruler for the newly independent Brazil is said to return to Portugal to assume the Portugal crown. In fact he had abdicated his right to Portugal throne a few years before in benefit of his daughter, Maria da Gloria but the desire of Dom Pedro I's brother, Don Miguel, to assume himself the control over Portugal led to the so called "War Of The Two Brothers". Princess Isabel is called Princes Isabella. One sack of 60 Kg of coffee in 1909 is said to be worth 33.5 pounds of gold or about 150,000 dollars in today's prices. That would be over a thousand dollars a pound, off by a few orders of magnitude. The first military institutional act is said to expire in 1996. It would expire in 1969.

But don't get me wrong I don't want to be picky about dates or events that are more significant to Portugal History than to Brazilian History. I enjoyed the book. Not that much the Colony and Empire periods but certainly the 20th century after the 1930 "revolution". The book paints a vivid image of Brazil bringing me memories like the parrot Ze Carioca, (Walt Disney's Saludos Amigos), the soccer victories, "Bossa Nova", the "Cinema Novo" the armed guerilla during the military dictatorship years, the popular movement for direct presidential elections in 1983 and all the emotional roller coaster that followed: Tancredo's election and latter demise the dismay brought by Sarney's administration; Fernando Collor de Melo raise and impeachment; The short (thanks God) government of Itamar and finally Fernando Henrique Cardoso's administration with his now long lasting stabilization plan.

The book is OK. It's written more like a short essay compilation so the connection between two historical episodes is usually very weak. I definitely don't like the book before 1930 but I think it gets pretty good after that. I would suggest Boris Fausto's A Concise History of Brazil instead. But the cultural and social aspects of Brazilian life during the 20th century presented in this book are certainly worth the whole book.

Leonardo Alves November 2000


A great easy to read summary of Brazilian history   October 5, 1999
13 out of 15 found this review helpful

As a former GWU gradute student of Latin American studies, I had read quite a few legnthy, scholarly books on Brazilian history and culture, many of which presupposed the reader have some knowledge of Brazil. In my opinion, what makes Skidmore's book so outstanding is that it is both a thorough summary of 500 years of Brazilian history and culture and is easy enough to read so that readeres with no prior knowledge of Brazilian history and culture will get a good background for this very important but little understood giant of Latin America. I highly recommend it for anyone planning to visit Brazil who wants a good, concise background on this diverse nation.


The best I've read, although not perfect   April 23, 2001
Victor A. Vyssotsky (Orleans, MA USA)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

Of the three short (one-volume) histories of Brazil I've read recently, I consider this the best. Although I agree with Leonardo Alves that the early history is treated too briefly and with minor errors, the book is quite good on the modern history of Brazil. I have one minor criticism, and a wish.

Prof. Skidmore uses the words "left" and "right" regularly to describe the political orientation of important individuals and groups in Brazil. I found this confusing and misleading, until I realiized that I could get a coherent view by replacing "left" by "reformist" and "right" by "conservative" wherever they occur. The problem is that although "left" and "right" are a useful classification in some countries, they do not fit Brazil. For example, Cardoso is frequently considered to be a former leftist who has become a centrist liberal, but this is misleading. Cardoso has consistently been a reformer, wanting to make major changes in the political and economic structure of Brazil, and his only shifts have been tactical; his values and underlying views have not changed. Similarly, it's very confusing to try to classify Goulart and his supporters into "left" and "right." Goulart himself would have been considered a rightist in Europe; he wanted to return to the policies of Vargas; most of his supporters would have been considered "leftists" in Europe. To understand what happened during Goulart's presidency and why it was ended by a military coup, it's more useful to think of Goulart and all his supporters as "reformist" and the Army leadership as "conservative." I recommend that other readers mentally substitute "reformist" for "left" and "conservative" for "right" when reading Skidmore's book.

My wish and hope is that some day soon a capable historian will write a longer and more comprehensive history of Brazil in English. Brazil is nearly as large as the USA and has nearly as many people; it has been settled by Europeans longer than the USA, and its culture throughout its history has been extremely diverse. It is just plain impossible to do justice to the history of Brazil in a short (250 or 300 pages) book; I think it would take something with two or three times as much material. Brazil is becoming more important in world affairs than most people in the USA realize, and it would be good to have a thorough text on Brazil's history in English.


Excellent Look At Brazilian History   March 31, 1999
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Skidmore has been writing about Brazilian history for several decades now and is one of the top American authorities on the subject. This is a fascinating look at five centuries in a fascinating country. It unfortunately doesn't have enough information on Brazilian music (which is a vital part of the culture), but for that there are books like "The Brazilian Sound."


A must for anyone interested in Brazil   July 28, 2001
Phillip Auth (Austin, TX United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

I just completed the last semester of my MBA at Fundacao Getulio Vargas in Sao Paulo and this was the best book of all my materials for my Brazilian history class -- in English or Portuguese! It is comprehensive, entertaining and an easy read all at the same time. He also had the respect of my very critical Brazilian prof!