Brazil: Five Centuries of Change (Latin American Histories) [Paperback]

Thomas E. Skidmore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 1999

With a land mass larger than the continental United States, a unique culture that is part European, African, and indigenous, and the largest economy in Latin America, Brazil is one of the most important--yet one of the least understood--nations in the world.
Thomas Skidmore, a preeminent authority on Brazil, vividly traces the 500 years of Brazil's development. Its epic story begins in the wake of Vasco da Gama's historic circumnavigation of the globe, when another Portuguese vessel, commanded by Pedro Alvares Cabral, ran aground on the coast of Brazil in April 1500. From there Skidmore probes Portugal's remarkable command of the vast country in the face of the advances of the Spanish, French, and Dutch colonial interests; Brazil's compromised independence in 1822; its evolution as the center of world coffee cultivation; and the creation of the republic in the late nineteenth century. He also examines its unique forms of modernist art and literature, the dictatorship of Getulio Vargas and the military coups, and the liberal reforms of current President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Informed by the most recent scholarship available, Brazil explores the country's many blessings: ethnic diversity, racial democracy, a vibrant cultural life, and a wealth of natural resources. But, as Skidmore writes, the Brazilians must also grapple with a history of political instability and military rule, a deplorable environmental record, chronic inflation, and international debt. 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. .

Editorial Reviews

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"This is an excellent summary of Brazilian history. Very well written with compelling insights."--Douglas W. Richmond University of Texas at Arlington

"An affordable, up-to-date, and superbly written text. Finally a concise history of Latin Americas largest nation. Useful at all levels of undergraduate classes."--Jose Morales, New Jersey City University

"Outstanding. Engaging writing and analysis. Best text on Brazil."--Gregory S. Crider, Wingate University

"A straightforward and eminently readable survey of 500 years of Brazilian history. The text is supplemented by numerous statistical tables, charts, and maps."--James A. Brown, Tougaloo College

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195058100
• ISBN-13: 978-0195058109
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #918,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good 20th Century, weak Empire and useless Colonial History., November 20, 2000

By 

Leonardo Alves (Houghton, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Brazil: Five Centuries of Change (Latin American Histories) (Paperback)

This is not the book I would recommend as a one volume introductory history of Brazil. The book contains way too many inaccuracies and overlooks many important aspects of Brazil's History. It gets better with the 1930 revolution though. On the book cover's advanced praise the book is welcomed as a standard textbook on Brazil's history for the years to come; I hope not.

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

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best I've read, although not perfect, April 23, 2001

By 

Victor A. Vyssotsky "mandvav" (Orleans, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Brazil: Five Centuries of Change (Latin American Histories) (Hardcover)

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.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great easy to read summary of Brazilian history, October 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Brazil: Five Centuries of Change (Latin American Histories) (Hardcover)

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.