Publisher's Synopsis
Illustrated in colour and black and white
Sub-titled 'growing pains of a colonial society', Professor C.R.Boxer's
lively book -- a classic of its kind -- explores how the small European
kingdom of Portugal established the vast colony of Brazil, extending to
more than half the area and nearly the population of the whole continent of
South America.
The 'golden age' was, of course, tarnished from the start: the book
begins with a study of the slave trade and of the slavery in field and mine
on which the developing economy was built. There follow chapters on the
penetration of the boundless interior, west and south, by missionaries,
cattlemen and a medley of other colonists, the fending off of European
rivals, the discovery of diamond and gold deposits, and yet further
expansion into Amazonia. Throughout the epic events, the lives of men and
women of all classes are vividly portrayed and the political and
administrative repercussions of growth explained. By the time the 'golden
age' ended, three races - Amerindian, Portuguese and Negro - had achieved a
relatively peaceful fusion and a Brazilian self-consciousness had emerged,
the prelude to independence from Portugal.
This reissue of Professor Boxer's classic study includes a new set
of contemporary illustrations
