Book, Brazil: a biography[LS]

With fluent language, access to unpublished documentation and profound rigor in research, Lilia Moritz Schwarcz and Heloisa Murgel Starling paint a full-length portrait of the country, and show that Brazil well deserves a new history. Edition with new postscript by the authors. Combining accessible and pleasant text, vast original documentation and rich iconography, Lilia Moritz Schwarcz and Heloisa Starling propose a new (and unconventional) history of Brazil. In this journey of more than five hundred years, they focus not only on "great history" but also on everyday life, artistic expression and culture, minorities, economic cycles and social conflicts (often subverting the dates and events consecrated by tradition). In the background, they still maintain a constant dialogue with those authors who, before them, embarked on the difficult task of trying to interpret or, at least, understand Brazil. The story that emerges from these pages is that of a long process of clashes and unfinished social advances, in which the failed construction of citizenship, the contradictory heritage of miscegenation and violence appear as persistent features. This edition includes a new postscript from the authors, which sheds light on the country's recent situation: democracy called into question, the developments in popular demonstrations and the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, among other notable events of recent years.