Full review to come.
I deeply apologize, but life is a handful lately and I'm using all my free time to read, not review. I hope everybody understands.

This is a dense but very comprehensive and readable history of Brazil.. The authors have an eloquent writing style, and both the casual and serious reader will learn much from this impressively researched book.

In this fact filled biography of the country, the authors describe the historical and social developments that have shaped their country in the last 500 years: From colonization and the barbaric system of slavery on whichsociety rested during the times of the "Sugar Civilization", on to the Brazilian gold rush, the monarchy, the First Republic, to the dictatorship and finally to the current democratic system a very interesting book overall

This book explains the complex and confusing history of Brazil in a manner that is clear and streamlined, yet complex enough to shed light on the conundrum that is Brazil. Seeing where it came from helps us understand the present. I wish that this book had been available when I was studying history in college!

A must-read for ethnocentric citizens of the United States. Although the writing style lends itself more to a textbook than, say, a non-ficiton book by Erik Larson, the history is fascinating. For example, I learned that Thomas Jefferson and company weren't the first ones in the New World to propose a revolution and repulican government in the New World.

The United States isn't the only country to craft it's history to whitewash the truth about its treatment of indigenous peoples and slaves. Schwarcz and Starling paint a bleak picture of how the Portuguese systematically eliminated indigenous groups while at the same time using imagery to paint a picture of Brazil's egalitarian history.

History buffs and those seeking to understand colonialism at its most brutal will find this a valuable resource.

I just love the beautiful, vibrant and contradictory place that is Brazil! In this comprehensive "biography" of the country, the authors describe the historical and social developments that have shaped their country in the last 500 years: From colonization and the barbaric system of slavery on which Brazlian society rested during the times of the "Sugar Civilization", on to the Brazilian gold rush, the monarchy, the First Republic, to the dictatorship and finally to the current democratic system with all its triumphs and flaws - this is exciting academic writing, passionate and objective at the same time.

I particularly enjoyed that Moritz Schwarcz and Murgel Starling made a point to show how important scientists (like Gilberto Freyre), directors, actors and singers, Samba, Bossa Nova and the carnival were and still are when it comes to defining the Brazilian identity and giving marginalised groups a voice - after all, the country is a true melting pot that struggles with persisting racist stereotypes. For hundreds of years, certain social groups have been fighting an uphill battle, and again and again, they have resisted and taken the streets to fight for agency and civil rights.

This book describes the progress and the beauty of the country, but it certainly does not sugarcoat the inequality, injustice and corruption that still pose a threat, because in the end,

"(h)istory is the only resource Brazil can rely on to lend a future to the country's past (...). The future could be bright."

This work, if anything, is aptly-titled. By going so deep into the details of Brazil’s story, it truly is just as intimate as any biographical work on a single life. And because it so meticulously covers the past of this nation, it leaves very little in obscurity yearning to be given mention and discussion. As a result, on top of being richly informative it also ends up being a very honest summarization.

Schwarcz and Starling have done an outstanding job. There really should be no reason why this excellent work shouldn’t soon become the go-to recommendation for anyone with any interest in the history of Brazil.

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.

Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC.

This book makes me realize what I learned in school was very - shall we say one-sided. All these great explorers we celebrated, maybe we should call them invaders?

From Brazil's beginnings - the invasion and division between Portugal and Spain - to it's hay-day as a sugarcane slavery colony, then the gold rush,the break from Portugal as an independent empire under Pedro II who ruled for almost 70 years and then slowly the emergence of the modern day Federal Republic Brazil. Brazil is amazingly diverse due to all these waves of different people coming into its borders. This book had a wealth of information of the history of this huge and intriguing country.