"This volume reveals how the political and the personal intertwined to make Pedro II the person he was. He was remarkably self-centered, with a distrust of intimacy that left him emotionally deprived. He worked alone, and his principal advisors were never human beings but books. A man of monumental restraint and iron self-discipline, Pedro II took great care in speech and writing to reveal little of his inner self. These defenses once penetrated, as in this book, we encounter a complex personality who simultaneously compels sympathy, exasperation, and respect."--BOOK JACKET.