AM220 “The Country of the Future”: Introduction to the History of Modern
Brazil
Book Review Guidelines
Why write a book review?
This exercise is designed to help you familiarise yourself with a particular topic within the
second half of the course - just as you would when writing an essay. However, it
encourages you to go about it a bit differently. It is designed to get you thinking about
the book in the way that a professional historian would: how does it contribute to its field
of research? How did the author go about researching and writing the book? What
sources did he or she use? How effective is the book? How well-written is it – is it
enjoyable and accessible to read? How does what she or he produced differ from, and
contribute to, a field of historical knowledge? Which are the most effective chapters, and
which are weaker? Why? What could the person have done better/ differently?
The review should take you about the same amount of time and work as a regular short
essay, but it involves a slightly different approach. Most students find it a refreshing
change from essay-writing, and an interesting and helpful exercise.
Can I use this exercise for other pieces of writing on the course?
Yes. You can build from your book review to write a long essay on a similar topic if you
want. You can also incorporate it into your class presentation if you’re still due to do one.
The research you do for it may also help you in the exam, and it is fine to incorporate it if
an appropriate question comes up.
The exercise:
Please prepare a book review of about 1,500 words (there is no 10% rule!) The review
does not need to be written like an essay, although some of the same techniques apply.
You won’t need such a formal introduction and conclusion, for example - although you
will need to find a way to introduce the book briefly and make some concluding remarks
at the end. Do stick to the normal conventions of academic writing – the usual
references, footnotes, and a bibliography at the end.
Imagine that you are writing for an audience that includes historians and educated general
readers. These people are broadly familiar with the contours of Brazilian history, but they
don’t necessarily know much about the topic or period that the book addresses, so you
will need to give a brief overview of this. They are wondering whether to buy the book,
what its main contributions are, and how it is being received by an academic community.
Or maybe they are wondering whether it would be a good book to put on their course
outlines for their students to read. Your review is a quick way for them to get a sense of
this. Hence, it should:
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Summarise the book’s overall argument, and provide a brief sense of how it
develops in the different chapters
Discuss what sources (especially primary sources) the book is based on, and how
these have shaped the historian’s viewpoint
Assess critically its contribution to its field: how does the book add to, alter or
reshape historical thinking on the topic? What does it tell us that is new (if
anything)? How effective is it? How well-written? How useful?
Tips for researching and preparing the review
Reading the book:
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Read the whole book once through; take brief notes to help you later
Pay particular attention to the introduction, where the author will set out a lot of
what you need to know: the book’s intended contribution to a field; how it
departs from other literature on the topic; the sources used; the approach taken.
Many books offer helpful chapter summaries at the start.
Pay particular attention to the list of primary sources and bibliography at the end:
where/how did the author do their research? Did they use “conventional”
historical sources or perhaps make use of “non-conventional” ones – interviews,
oral history, musical recordings? What secondary sources have they drawn on and
dialogued with throughout the book? Is the author primarily a historian, or are
they also influenced by anthropology, literary/ cultural approaches, sociology?
Use the index to locate key terms within the book that you may be interested in
researching further
Reading beyond the book:
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Use the course bibliography and/ or notes from classes/ lectures to get a sense of
the overall topic which is the book’s context (e.g. military rule, Vargas and the
Estado Novo, etc)
For a sense of the state of the current literature, you can also check bibliographical
overviews like the Oxford Handbook of Latin American History (e-version available at
the library; there’s a helpful chapter by Barbara Weinstein on post-independence
Brazil)
Check the works of the main authors the book dialogues with (use the
introduction of the book to be reviewed). How does the work depart from or
debate with these?
Check what others have said about the book. Most good books get reviewed in
journals like Journal of Latin American Studies; Latin American Research Review;
Hispanic American Historical Review; Luso-Brazilian Review; etc. Use JSTOR,
Project Muse and similar databases. Cite these reviews if you want, just as you
would any other reference. Who are the people who are reviewing the book? Do
you agree with them?
Books for Review
The following books have been selected because they are substantive, recent, interesting
and readable, and pertain directly to topics covered on the course. They are all available at
the library, but there are only a couple of copies of most of them. Thus, there is a decentsized list, so there will be enough to go around! Some are available as e-books.
You may wish to buy a copy of “your” book. Many are available very cheaply secondhand, on Amazon or Abe Books.
If you find a book that you would prefer to review instead, this may be possible but
please consult me by email first.
Jerry Dávila, Diploma of whiteness: race and social policy in Brazil, 1917-1945 (2003) [one copy
in library]
Todd Diacon, Stringing Together a Nation: Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon and the Construction
of Modern Brazil, 1906-1930. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004 [two standard and one
short loan copies at library]
Jeffrey Lesser, Immigration, Ethnicity, and National Identity in Brazil, 1808 to the Present (CUP,
2013) [one copy at library]
Shawn C Smallman, Fear and memory in the Brazilian army and society, 1889-1954 (UNC,
2002) [one copy on short loan at library]
Robert M. Levine, Vale of Tears: Revisiting the Canudos Massacre in Northeastern Brazil, 18931897 (1992) [one short loan and one standard loan at library]
Beattie, Peter M. Tribute of Blood: Army, Honour, Race and Nation in Brazil, 1864-1945 (Duke
University Press, 2001) [two standard loan copies in library]
Robin Nagle and Jill Nagle, Claiming the Virgin: The Broken Promise of Liberation Theology in
Brazil (1997) [one copy on short loan]
Michael George Hanchard, Orpheus and Power: the Movimento Negro of Rio de Janeiro and
São Paulo, Brazil 1945-1988 (1998) [one standard and one short loan at library]
Thomas E Skidmore, The Politics of Military Rule in Brazil, 1964-85 (1988) [one copy at
library]
Daryle Williams, Culture wars in Brazil: the first Vargas regime, 1930-1945 (2001) [e-copy and
two paper copies at library]
Barbara Weinstein, For Social Peace in Brazil: Industrialists and the Remaking of the Working
Class in São Paulo, 1920-1964 (1996) [one copy in library]
John Burdick, Blessed Anastacia: women, race, and popular Christianity in Brazil (1998) [one
copy in library]
Andrews, George Reid. Blacks and Whites in São Paulo, Brazil: 1888-1988. University of
Wisconsin Press, 1992. [one short loan copy at library]
Kim D Butler, Freedoms Given, Freedoms Won: Afro-Brazilians in Post-Abolition São Paulo and
Salvador. Rutgers University Press, 1998 [e-book at library]
Bryan McCann, Hello, Hello Brazil: Popular Music in the Making of Modern Brazil. Duke
University Press, 2004 [one copy in library]
Joel Wolfe, Autos and Progress: The Brazilian Search for Modernity. New York: OUP, 2010
[one copy in library]
Burdick, John, Looking for God in Brazil: The Progressive Catholic Church in Urban Brazil’s
Religious Arena. University of California Press, 1993. [one copy on short loan]
Todd Diacon, Millenarian Vision, Capitalist Reality: Brazil’s Contestado Rebellion, 1912-1916.
Durham: Duke University Press, 1991 [three copies on standard loan at library]
Hahner, June. Emancipating the Female Sex: The Struggle for Women’s Rights in Brazil, 18501940. Durham: Duke University Press, 1990. [one copy on standard loan]