Scan barcode
_tourist's review against another edition
a standard liberal history, that gets less interesting the closer it comes to the liberal democracy of its imagined imminent future.
arfserra's review against another edition
4.0
Uma leitura essencial para entender o que fez do Brasil, Brasil. O livro não se presta a ser uma história exaustiva do país. As autoras destacam alguns períodos e eventos para explicarem mais a fundo, e associam o momento político e econômico ao cultural e social.
zachprovo's review against another edition
5.0
This book was an excellent, yet often critical, snapshot of Brazil's history. It was a delight to read the history of a place written in the book's narrative style.
robinwalter's review
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
A big book for a big country. A challenging read, this overview of Brazil's history overall did a great job of balancing the need to be readable with the need to be detailed. Highly recommended
dkevanstoronto's review against another edition
5.0
Lilia M. Schwarcz and Heloisa M. Starling give a portrait of Brazil in such a way that you find it readable and yet very confusing. Its not their fault, its Brazil. The country embodies such a mass of contradictions, such combinations of opposites and is so rich in diversity that to claim a simple history would be impossible. The work however is to be commended, as it gives a comprehensive birds eye view of the many struggles that made the history of Brazil.
The continual struggles between regions, cultures, peoples and the rich and the poor is a constant theme. The unity also comes out in all the cultural panoply of a country both new and unique as well as international and connected.
The book is a must, to have attempted this mamoth task alone makes it worth reading. But to be plain about it, the writing is straightforward and easy to read. The argument is a very liberal one that seems to lament at many points that Brazil could not have been like the United States in structure and fortune. That it does not wallow in the sadness of its tragedy is a definite plus. Instead we have an optimism and a vitality to the work that mirrors the history of Brazil itself.
The continual struggles between regions, cultures, peoples and the rich and the poor is a constant theme. The unity also comes out in all the cultural panoply of a country both new and unique as well as international and connected.
The book is a must, to have attempted this mamoth task alone makes it worth reading. But to be plain about it, the writing is straightforward and easy to read. The argument is a very liberal one that seems to lament at many points that Brazil could not have been like the United States in structure and fortune. That it does not wallow in the sadness of its tragedy is a definite plus. Instead we have an optimism and a vitality to the work that mirrors the history of Brazil itself.
angela_the_librarian's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars, but rounding up to 3 because I respect the sheer amount of work that must've went into writing this. I went into this not knowing much beyond a real surface history of Brazil, so this definitely filled in a lot of gaps. However, I really struggled to finish (almost gave up several times) because it is really repetitive and I think the translation was perhaps not the best (I was about ready to chuck the book after reading "above all else" for the 200th time!). This would've been much better with heavier editing and perhaps smoothing out the translation a bit. I don't know if I can wholeheartedly recommend this, but I think it provides a launching point for delving more into specific eras/topics in Brazilian history.
More...