Politics in Brazil 1930-1964: An Experiment in Democracy

The merit of Professor Skidmore's books on Brazilian history come from the fact that he has painstakingly ammassed the secondary evidence on modern Brazilian history he has been collecting since the 1960s and has sewn all of it into a coherent whole that no one who wants to have a go at the subject- Brazilian or foreign - could skip. Surely, no small merit. However, I would like to point that Professor Skidmore has, above all, been influenced by the views of Brazilian scholars like professor Helio Jaguaribe, one of the founders of the famous 1950s Brazilian think-thank ISEB (Higher Institute of Brazilian Studies) who see Brazilian history mostly in terms of economic "modernization", therefore does not paying that much attention to the blend of economic modernization _and_ political backwardness that makes so much of Brazilian history past and present - something stressed better by Marxist historians like Mario Pedrosa, Livio Xavier, and Florestan Fernandes. However, no one can blame Professor Skidmore for having chosen a given ideological outlook, and it's meritoriously enough that his books will remain, for a long time, necessary stumblin-blocks in the study of Brazilian history.

"Politics in Brazil...", as the name implies, is a summary of the political and economical life in Brazil from 1930 to 1964. It means the book covers the most important period of Brazilian Histoy in this century, when a rural and almost feudal country began to make a real transition to the Industry Age. Although the subject may seem arid sometimes, Skidmore achieves to make a good and straightforward account of the transformations which made the country a good part of what it is today. His covering of Getulio Vargas' government is very objective and easy to understand, and the author even seems to have a little admiration for our great Macchiavelli.In short this a fine book, but just for those who already have a basic knowledge of Brazilian history. I even think that every Brazilian high school student should read it -- it explains thing which still affect us today. On the other hand, if the only thing you know about Brazil is that it is Carmen Miranda's land, forget it and try to find another book.