História Concisa do Brasil

Cambridge Concise Histories

by Boris Fausto

Os pressupostos básicos deste livro são a convicção de que é possível levar ao conhecimento de um público amplo uma história escrita em linguagem acessível, sem perda da qualidade analítica, e que buscar conhecer e interpretar o passado é condição indispensável para o cidadão situar-se no presente e avaliar as possibilidades e limites do futuro. A obra não é um simples resumo da História do Brasil, publicada na Coleção Didática da Edusp, embora mantenha a estrutura básica daquela. Boris Fausto consegue aqui tornar compreensíveis as linhas principais da história brasileira, cumprindo a tarefa de forma sintética e apresentando dados estatísticos atualizados, assim como um balanço dos anos recentes no capítulo de conclusão.

Genres: History, Brazil, Nonfiction, Politics, Unfinished, Latin American History

324 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

BORIS FAUSTO nasceu em 1930, em São Paulo. É professor aposentado do Departamento de Ciência Política da USP, membro da Academia Brasileira de Ciências e autor de livros como A revolução de 1930, Negócios e ócios e O crime do restaurante chinês.

Reviews

[Brian Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Concise History of Brazil by Boris Fausto
Fausto makes a difficult choice, limiting his coverage of Brazil's history to things political and economic. Cultural life, he feels, would take another volume. The result is a tale of hard, dramatic realities. We have the booms and busts of various regional resource-economies down the centuries, with the flow of migrants from slumping to temporarily thriving states. The book's mandate requires fairly fine-resolution coverage of leaders, parties, elections, and coups, for decade after decade. Both the political alliances and economic problems often seem bewildering, like the mysterious bouts of hyper-stagflation that lost the 1980s.

But a focus on the eco-political half of Brazil's life can't help but mirror it's cultural and spiritual changes of heart. The colonial-age "bandiera" expeditions of plunder, slave-raiding, and metal-prospecting had their counterparts in the jungle semi-states of escaped slaves. The enormous slave economy involved a high rate of manumission for slaves, often because slave-owners fell in love with slave women. The military coups to thwart communist revolutions confirmed the rise of urban labor movements, the massive organization of rural workers, and the often heroic role of church leaders in defending human rights. Fausto crunches the numbers on social change. Among other things, he measures how much the military rulers of 1964 to '89 managed to squeeze the poor majority in terms of education, wages, and taxes -- for the sake of increased investment to richer people.

The story ends before the era of Lula, on a note of optimism and awareness of peril. Fausto suspects that a whole raft of old illusions have slowly faded away. With perhaps ill-founded hope he writes, "The delusions of grandeur which moved people to violence and to destroy natural resources no longer exist. Brazilians have begun to discard their belief in a providential leader endowed with willpower and magic who will solve their nation's problems."

[Mac · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bust.

Written like your typical old and overused textbook, which it is. Factual and comprehensive but tedious and hard to stick with. A tough read.

[Alastair · Rating 2 out of 5]

A dense and tedious walk through Brazilian history. Perhaps I hoped for too much, and maybe this is more appropriate for the professional historian, but detailing the historiography of the work, continually backing up general points with myriad statistics, and referencing future events before formally introducing them all come together to make this book totally inappropriate for the novice to Brazilian history.

I’m not sure whether there exists a better read for someone wanting an overview of the history with perhaps more of a focus on the characters of the history (even if this goes against modern historiographical sensibilities). Suffice it to say if, like me, you wanted to learn about Brazil within the confines of an entertaining read this is definitely not the book for you. Copious typing and grammatical errors (including words simply missing) throughout the book doesn’t help endear this book to the reader either as they trudge through reams of statistics while struggling to understand key figures and movements in Brazilian history. Avoid unless you are a professional.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author with the best name ever still can't escape from the dreaded "concise history" trap of engaging first half and boring-as-concrete-toothpaste second half. Brazil itself, no slouch when it comes to landmass share on our apparently tedious planet, comes across as wily and crazed in its early history--slightly apart from the rest of Latin America for being Portuguese and thus long-suffering under a different set of execrable monarchs. Fausto does well with the early parts, though he overwhelmingly focuses on the northeast/east coasts. Forget anything about the Amazonas except for teasing mentions, this is an east coast affair. The 20th century sections are so boring, a litany of names and economic policies that'll have you falling asleep in your caipirinha!

[Victor Henrique · Rating 3 out of 5]

A misleading title for a classic in brazilian history. Although the "concise" series is supposed to be a fun quick read, this one is not. A summarised version of "Boris 800 pages History work" will put you in a well informated situation about Brazil, wheter the reading will be quite boring, for its technical aspects and language

Boris is one the least biased historians in Brazil. You will encounter yourself in an immersive and detailed filled history of colonial times, and in the beginning of the brazilian monarchy. After the republic period, everything starts to get oversimplistic. Its not only Boris fault, but from the Concise History editors.

The great side of this book is that it's not going to feed us with wrong facts, despite the sum up towards the end, with the apparition of some controversial opinions. Instead, this piece will show the anachronistic and schizophrenic side of brazilian history.

[Etel Sverdlov · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took a very political and economics focused approach to Brazil's history. Through its entirety, the text mainly focused on who was in power, what their economic objectives were, what the repercussions of the policy were on Brazil, and what was the general sentiment of the people concerning the situation. In other words, it was a bit dry. However, the writing style, though straightforward, helped to keep the book intriguing and readable. When I was done, I felt like I had missed out significantly on the social and cultural history of Brazil but had at least gained a superficial understanding of the country's timeline. I'm hoping to augment this book with a more culturally focused history text, but it was a good introduction (if not much else).

[Sytse · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book! It is concise in the very essence; the information given in this book is good yet noted with as few words as necassery. I recommend it to anybody who wants to learn the basic Brazilian history (this book offers next to no in-depth on 90% of the topics). The usage of English is superb, but it forced me to re-read some sentences because of complex sentence stucture and I had to pick up my dictionary more than once.

[Fabrício Renzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seria nota 5 se a parte final (abrangendo o período de 1990-2010) não fosse escrita pelo superintendente do instituto FHC e defensor da integridade de Sergio Moro, vulgo um alienado do caralh*. Bom livro.

[Guilherme Lira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Infelizmente, meu entendimento de história e o número de páginas lidas são inversamente proporcionais

[Nathan Albright · Rating 3 out of 5]

In writing about history, many historians (like this author), make Faustian bargains.  On the one hand, such writers want credibility for being sound historians, even when they write about areas that other people do not know very well, but at the same time they want to express their own ideological perspectives, and in many cases this acts against sound historical understanding.  And that is the case in this book, it must be admitted.  The author bends over backwards to not admit to Brazil's history being conservative in the sense of not changing much when it comes to problems of corruption, but it is hard to be optimistic about Brazilian history when so many regimes struggle with corruption, regardless of their ideology, even though the author shows himself clearly biased in favor of Lulu and other leftist politicians.  Fortunately, the author is an honest enough historian that there is worthwhile information even if his bias makes it a less worthwhile book than it would otherwise have been.  If the author is no particular friend of the United States, he does at least want to convey something of Brazil's complex history to Anglophone readers and that is a worthwhile ambition.

This book is between 300 and 350 pages and is divided into six large chapters.  The first chapter of the book looks at Colonial Brazil (neatly skipping over Brazilian prehistory), starting with the arrival of the Portuguese in Brazil and continuing through colonization and colonial economics all the way up to rebel movements and the beginning of national consciousness (1).  After that the book's second chapter discusses the period of imperial Brazil between 1822-1889, where the two emperors are confusingly called the first and second empires, and which also discusses the Paraguayan war and the end of slavery (2).  The third chapter of the book discusses the period of the first republic from 1889 to 1930, when Vargas took over after a particularly fraught period of compromise and shifting coalitions of government (3).  After that a chapter discusses Vargas' state in the Depression and World War II periods (4) before moving to discuss another democratic experiment between 1945 and 1964.  After that the book discusses the military government and the transition to democracy that followed between 1964 and 1984 that demonstrated the increasing polarization of Brazilian politics between sensible conservatives and radical leftists in an atmosphere where the Cold War was demonstrating such divides worldwide. 

When looking at this book, I have to say that there is a lot of disappointment here.  There are a lot of ways that this book could have been considerably better, but at least there is still a great deal that this book provides, and one of those strengths is a narrative approach.  The author whines a bit when he comments that the narrative approach is "outdated," but that merely means that it is not well-liked by leftist historians who prefer a more fragmentary approach that forgets the narrative flow of history so as to better insert one's political perspectives when it comes to various groups without the burden of having to show that these ideological concerns were relevant to the flow of history.  Fortunately, the author rejects the siren call of leftist history enough to provide a solid enough narrative of Brazilian history even if it shows a bit of chronological snobbery by focusing on the politics of the 20th century rather than the colonial period, which would have likely been more interesting and less political in nature.  The book does convey that Brazil's history has a lot that is worthy to discuss, including the tensions between different parts of Brazil and the fragility of political consensus there.

[Anonymous4999 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very informative book that chronicles Brazil's history, from its colonial origins, to its empire stint with Dom Pedro I and II, to Varga's Estado Novo, to the military dictatorship and the democratic governments of Cardoso and Lula. However, I did notice certain limitations concerning not just this book, but also A Concise History of Switzerland, and I fear that this holds true for the rest of the Cambridge series. There is a lot of emphasis on politics and economy, which is par for the course for any good history book, but there is a notable lack of writing in other areas. Wars tend to be only lightly skimmed, arts and culture are practically non-existent too. Not a single mention of Brazil's famous Carnival, which you would think is important for Brazil's national identity and economy generated by tourism. There is also a lack of mention of artistic and social movements in the country, the later of which is lightly touched upon. To a certain extent, this is understandable, it's "A CONCISE History" after all, but the feeling that more could be written about it still lingers.

[James Gaffney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Não era tão concisa para mim! Mas foi interessante, sobretudo os secções sobre o quadro socioeconômico.

"No plano interno do Brasil, uma boa pergunta de um livro de História consiste em indagar até que ponto o passado histórico torna impossível, ou quase impossível, a superação de muitos dos males atuais. Uma reposta sintética consiste em dizer que, apesar de todos os fatores negativos do passado que ainda se refletem no presente - a escravidão, o clientelismo, a exclusão social das camadas mais pobres-, os obstáculos, sem dúvida difíceis, não são impossíveis de superar."

Decided to make use of this snow day to finally finish this book. The language - and level of detail about various political scandals - was often a challenge, but overall a great book that's given me a much better understanding of Brazil and its society.

[Marcelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise history of Brazil compiles the main periods since the great navigation until reelection of Lula (2010). It illustrates how Brazil was occupied, developed and grew. We can see Brazil its a young country and most of development was around commodities (until today). The book focus on political and economical facts, it doesnt bring a cultural or sociological concerns. But, I think its worth. The last chapter about the first two most important elected presidents are a plus. I think Sergio Fausto analyzed in very reasonable way those periods (1994 - 2010) and its a worth reading to understand what is happening nowadays.

[Tomas Castro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a gift to me by my aunt (who is a historian herself), and was a compelling read. I'm Brazilian-American, so Portuguese is my second language, and I found that it was difficult for me to follow Fausto's dense vocabulary, although this is my fault and not his. Sometimes the reading was a little slow, but it more than makes up for this with a great amount of detail (especially considering that this is meant to be a short history covering five hundred years). A good read, I might venture to read it again now that my vocabulary is even better.

[Petri Launiainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having moved to Brazil I only had a vague idea of the history of this great place, based on the European view. This book, although at times it was somewhat tough to read, gave me a much better understanding of what this country is about, and how it has remained so homogeneous despite the vastness of the area.

If you have interest in the developments in South America in general, this is a good addition to your bookshelf.

[Randolph Rossi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brazil Has Advanced but It Has a Long Way to Go

As an American Expat, I have lived in Brazil for a little over seven years, so I wanted to get a historical and sociological understanding of Brazil, I’ve learned a great deal and I have found the book to be very even-handed in its analysis of events and government policies. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about The True Brazil. The English Translation was very readable and enjoyable.

[William Conte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book on Brazil. I find the first half particularly interesting as it weaves through the first centuries of Brazil’s founding. As it moved to the 20th century it got very dense and way too detailed on political movements and characters - became difficult to follow. Still a great backdrop for anyone interested in Brazil and wanting a deep crash course on its history.

[Matheus Barboza · Rating 3 out of 5]

O último capitulo tirou uma estrela na nota, o olhar do novo autor difere bastante da do Boris, as críticas são muitas vezes questionáveis e o olhar passa a ser muito econômico. No geral, faltam gráficos e mapas no livro.

[Carlos Nunes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid overview of Brazil’s history, offering valuable insights into its political and economic evolution. However, the dense tone and lack of narrative flow make it less engaging for general readers.

[Luciana Nery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conciso até demais - mas de alta qualidade, como tudo que faz Boris Fausto.

[Gonzalo Aguilar Rojas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pesadito.

[Kristine Cardoso · Rating 1 out of 5]

Never has history been so boring!

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rigorous read with a focus on shifts in political leadership.

[Marcia Dantas · Rating 4 out of 5]

ACABEEEEEI *dança da vitória*

[Vitor Ericeira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informativo.

[Artur Schlinker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book clearly delivers what it aims to: to give a brief background on brazilian history. People that have never studied brazilian history tend to think that the book is boring, filled with names and dates. I understand the disappointment of foreigners that expect something more from brazilian history, they expect to read more about Amazonia and the countryside far from the main cities, but brazilian history (and by that I mean the “concise version”) was made on the main cities, just like everywhere else. If you are looking for a different approach on brazilian history, try the grand public books by Laurentino Gomes, which are filled with anecdotes.

[Moses · Rating 4 out of 5]

When they say concise, they really mean concise. They cram half a millennium of history into 400 pages, mostly by cutting to the chase–it's almost all summary of events, and there are very few primary documents. The writing is also pretty bloodless, so even horrifying events like the Paraguayan War become snorefests.

With that said, it does an excellent job of providing a crash course to Brazil's history, so as someone who didn't know anything about Brazil's history, or really the history of any part of South America, it was fascinating.

A couple odd notes: this book, even the second edition, wasn't really edited properly, and the author ends up with somewhat strange word choice. Also, the new part of the second edition, the last chapter, seems to be an essay from somewhere else–it's translated by someone else, and it repeats a lot from the previous chapter. However, it's one of the best parts of the book, so I would strongly encourage you to get the second edition.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical accounts are often considered to be less time sensitive but Boris Fausto's story of Brazil, while as good an introduction as you could hope for in almost every way, would really benefit from an update.

This is because the past two decades have been so monumental that they shed new light on earlier times. A new awareness of environmental concerns and the deforestation of the Amazon in particular, new controversies surrounding the plight of indigenous peoples and the startling economic growth of the Lula and Rousseff administrations lead us to take a new view of what went before.

Where the book excels is in its depiction of immigration (why has the trajectory of Brazilian history differed so greatly from that of the very similar United States?), slavery and the shocking fact that it wasn't abolished until 1888 and the competing interests of the various states along with uneven development. A must read but let's have a second edition.

[Maria Fernanda Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an absolute must read for everybody that wants to learn about Brazilian History. As the title says, it's a concise history of the country, and it does encompasses it all. The good thing about it, though, is that is a complete book without being incredibly long. Although it can (and should) be considered an academic book, A Concise History is not a boring reading at all. Some of my friends had told me previously that it was a bit tendentious, but I think the author described the different political tendencies that emerged in Brazil throughout its history with reasonably fairness. I just wished it was more up to date, because it ends with an analysis of the 90s, but I think that may be solved in future editions.

[Karl Reinhard · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent history. By reading this book and remembering the details, one can really understand how different states and cities made up the mosaic of Brazil. Before extensive travel in Brazil, this is a must read.