Brazil

I can not hardly add anything to the great customer reviews. I took this book along on my last trip to Brazil and now I must encourage anyone who is traveling or has a deep interest in Brazil, read this book. Doing so may not only engrave visions of Brazil's history in your mind through an entertaining means, something that history books fail to do but it may also enlighten your understanding of why Brazil is the way it is and what makes Brazilians act the way they do. This is what it did for me. Thank you Mr.Uys

I am an avid reader of novels which try to humanise the history of a country by telling it through fictional family lines, whose lives are enmeshed is real, bona-fide historical events. But for a book truly to work, two pre-conditions must be in place: the characters in question should be drawn from dissimilar backgrounds, which depends mostly on the appeal of the country depicted (Michener's Hawaii springs to mind) plus the author must be highly conversant with its social history and have enough flair to sustain interest over the multitude of characters, episodes and, ultimately, pages.Brazil and Errol Uys fit the bill perfectly. The country is a fascinating amalgam of colonisers, native Indians and slaves and Uys has a compelling narrative style with down-to-earth dialogue, a first-rate selection of events to illustrate, leading to many a sub-climax, and a wealth of representative individuals to portray. You will be spellbound by the detail of the life and customs of the Tupí Indians, you will shake your head with disbelief at the Boy's Own adventures of the bandeirantes and you will be carried away by the treachery of the first failed movements for independence, mirroring those in the United States. The section on the devastating Paraguayan War is my favourite in a continuous stream of highlights, with its cinematic sweep from bloody battlefields and wounded soldiers to corrupt dictators and their beautiful mistresses. Just as a postscript: this book inspired me to learn Portuguese, travel to Brazil and study its history; I can not personally praise it more than that.

I have lived in Brazil for almost 14 years, and this book was the best and easiest way to understand the somewhat confusing history of the country. Not to mention that the story line was gripping enough to make you want to continue reading, in spite of the length of the book. Viva Errol Uys for making history pleasant!

The book treats Brazil's history in the form of a novel. I believe the book to be the most accessible account to Brazil's history. History books are often very boring, but because of the novel-format this book is easy to read, also giving insight into everyday aspects of life. Some of the characters are ficticious, but the author writes that as far as the historical characters are concerned, the story agrees with what has been recorded about these persons. And from all I have learned since about Brazil's history, this has been confirmed. I've read the book twice already, borrowing it from the Montreal public library. Now I am married to a Brazilian and live in Brazil, and I am buying it, partially as a reference.