Read more
TO SAY THAT THIS BOOK IS A HISTORY OF ANOTHER AMERICA IS NOT JUST FIGURATIVE. BRAZIL IS, IN FACT, TEN PERCENT LARGER THAN THE LOWER 48 STATES OF THE U.S., AND ITS POPULATION IS NOW APPROACHING 180 MILLION, OR ABOUT THE SAME AS THAT OF THE U.S. WHEN JOHN F. KENNEDY BECAME PRESIDENT. THE FIRST LAND ANYWHERE TO WHICH THE NAME "AMERICA" WAS AFFIXED, IT IS TODAY A MODERN URBAN, BUT ALSO A VAST PRODUCTIVE AND FAST-DEVELOPING TROPICAL COUNTRY ON THE WORLD STAGE, ITS ECONOMY AMONG THE 9 LARGEST IN THE WORLD.
ITS CENTURY-LONGER HISTORY CONTAINS MANY ELEMENTS FAMILIAR TO NORTH AMERICANS: ATLANTIC COASTAL COLONIZATION BY A EUROPEAN POWER OF THE DAY (PORTUGAL), DEVELOPMENT OF A SERIES OF DIVISIONS GRANTED TO ROYAL FAVORITES (IN ITS CASE, CALLED 'CAPTAINCIES'), AN EARLY EXTRACTIVE ECONOMY, FOLLOWED BY VERY EXTENSIVE PLANTATION ACREAGE WITH THE WORLD'S LARGEST AFRICAN SLAVE POPULATION AND EVENTUAL EMANCIPATION, NUMEROUS BLOODY INDIAN WARS AND EARLY FOREIGN INVASIONS, CONTINENTAL EXPLORATIONS, A LONG WESTWARD MOVEMENT, ENORMOUS CATTLE KINGDOMS, MOMENTOUS GOLD RUSHES LONG PRESAGING CALIFORNIA'S, A WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE AND A DECISIVE, FORMATIVE CONFLICT IN THE 1860S, A REPUBLIC WITH CONSTITUTIONAL AND PARTISAN BATTLES AND SERIES OF PRESIDENTS AND ELECTIONS, AND THE RISE OF URBAN LANDSCAPES AND A DISTINCT CULTURE OF ARTS AND MUSIC MATCHING OUR OWN IN SIZE, HERITAGE, AND SPLENDOR.
BRAZIL HAS ITS SHARE OF ADMIRABLE HEROES, GENIUSES, AND COLORFUL CHARACTERS, AND MANY STRUGGLES CONTINUE; BUT THESE ARE WHOLLY UNKNOWN ON THE OUTSIDE. CRUZEIRO DO SUL, A HISTORY OF BRAZIL'S HALF-MILLENNIUM IS THE FIRST EXTENSIVE, WELL-DOCUMENTED NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY TO BE PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH IN 185 YEARS. THE PRESENT VOLUME CARRIES THE STORY FROM ITS BEGINNINGS TO 1810.
