"Indispensable introductory survey of Brazilian history, 1500-1998. Pre-1930 history is treated as background. Second half is an outstanding narrative of politics and economic policy from 1930-present. Accessible to students and general readers. Particularly interesting are the book's final chapters, which seem to be addressed more to the conscience of the Brazilian ruling class than to foreign readers. Includes bibliographical essay, but one much less dense than typically found in Oxford Univ. Press one-volume histories of Latin American nations"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.