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O homem que inventou a ditadura no Brasil
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 2, 2025
Here is an adventure into the past!
Organized by Décio Freitas from newspaper articles and scarce notes from Bierce's diaries, this narrative offers a cruel, yet vivid and true account of the Federalist "Revolution" of 1893. The dispute between Maragatos and Chimangos, in the bloodiest fratricide that Brazil has ever known on its southern borders, between 1893 and 1895.
Good reading.
A. Bierce had a singular vision and a sincere humorous tone, even when describing the most brutal acts. What makes this book splendid, in terms of historical value, is the raw description of the old capital and Rio Grande do Sul at the end of the 19th century.
All the urban agony, with the old colonial architecture in conflict with the rapid modernization of the Republican Era, is vividly portrayed. The spear being surpassed by the machine gun, the clear technical and intellectual disparity between bachelors and old smugglers warlords from the interior, the traditional ways of archaic life disappearing in the face of the New Order!
I confess that what caught my attention most, above all, were the dialogues between Bierce and the Rio Grande do Sul scholar Apolinário Porto-Alegre. Although short, they transform this book into a kind of miniature "semi-essay", like the classic Civilization and Barbarism, by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, but from the perspective of the Brazilian people of Rio Grande do Sul state.
For this reason alone, it is worth reading. Certainly a delight for sociologists and anthropologists interested in the daily lives of the olds.
Speaking now from Bierce's perspective, he clearly had a side in the conflict. As is natural for a journalist, his presentation was not neutral and showed clear favoritism towards the liberals/Maragatos, the so-called liberators, in addition to an evident rejection of what he considered the dictatorship of state president Júlio de Castilhos. I suppose that, if he had known the word "totalitarianism", he would have used it to define the system of the government side at the time.
In general, it is good research and good historical material. An account of someone who witnessed and reported, even if with ulterior motives* a regrettable conflict between brothers.
The unfortunate part is the postface in which the author confuses concepts and makes a complete mistake, which could easily be used as a simple piece of propaganda. Although I see some value in the comparison between the Republican government of Rio Grande do Sul from 1893 to 1930 and the reign of the PRI in post-revolutionary Mexico.
Nevertheless, a good book. I would recommend it, with some warnings, to anyone who would like to introduce themselves to the study of this part of our history.
*(in Freitas' own research, it is understood through an American newspaper clipping, the interest of the USA in a state secession like that of 1835, as an eventual victory of the Maragatos and the fragmentation of Southern Brazil)
Organized by Décio Freitas from newspaper articles and scarce notes from Bierce's diaries, this narrative offers a cruel, yet vivid and true account of the Federalist "Revolution" of 1893. The dispute between Maragatos and Chimangos, in the bloodiest fratricide that Brazil has ever known on its southern borders, between 1893 and 1895.
Good reading.
A. Bierce had a singular vision and a sincere humorous tone, even when describing the most brutal acts. What makes this book splendid, in terms of historical value, is the raw description of the old capital and Rio Grande do Sul at the end of the 19th century.
All the urban agony, with the old colonial architecture in conflict with the rapid modernization of the Republican Era, is vividly portrayed. The spear being surpassed by the machine gun, the clear technical and intellectual disparity between bachelors and old smugglers warlords from the interior, the traditional ways of archaic life disappearing in the face of the New Order!
I confess that what caught my attention most, above all, were the dialogues between Bierce and the Rio Grande do Sul scholar Apolinário Porto-Alegre. Although short, they transform this book into a kind of miniature "semi-essay", like the classic Civilization and Barbarism, by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, but from the perspective of the Brazilian people of Rio Grande do Sul state.
For this reason alone, it is worth reading. Certainly a delight for sociologists and anthropologists interested in the daily lives of the olds.
Speaking now from Bierce's perspective, he clearly had a side in the conflict. As is natural for a journalist, his presentation was not neutral and showed clear favoritism towards the liberals/Maragatos, the so-called liberators, in addition to an evident rejection of what he considered the dictatorship of state president Júlio de Castilhos. I suppose that, if he had known the word "totalitarianism", he would have used it to define the system of the government side at the time.
In general, it is good research and good historical material. An account of someone who witnessed and reported, even if with ulterior motives* a regrettable conflict between brothers.
The unfortunate part is the postface in which the author confuses concepts and makes a complete mistake, which could easily be used as a simple piece of propaganda. Although I see some value in the comparison between the Republican government of Rio Grande do Sul from 1893 to 1930 and the reign of the PRI in post-revolutionary Mexico.
Nevertheless, a good book. I would recommend it, with some warnings, to anyone who would like to introduce themselves to the study of this part of our history.
*(in Freitas' own research, it is understood through an American newspaper clipping, the interest of the USA in a state secession like that of 1835, as an eventual victory of the Maragatos and the fragmentation of Southern Brazil)
December 6, 2024
Através dos diários do jornalista estadunidense A. Bierce, Décio Freitas reconta a guerra civil de 1893/1895, seu contexto e consequências, principalmente o que o autor chama de a invenção da ditadura no Brasil.
O livro foi escrito e pode ser lido como se fosse um romance. Pelos diários e artigos para o jornal escritos por A. Bierce, temos uma visão (bem misantrópica) da Porto Alegre e da sua população no final do século XIX, do gaúcho da fronteira, massa de manobra dos caudilhos, e dos líderes dos dois lados oponentes.
O que achei bem interessante foi a descrição de muitos aspectos da vida cotidiana das pessoas daquela época, principalmente quando o jornalista se encontrava com Apolinário Porto Alegre.
O livro foi escrito e pode ser lido como se fosse um romance. Pelos diários e artigos para o jornal escritos por A. Bierce, temos uma visão (bem misantrópica) da Porto Alegre e da sua população no final do século XIX, do gaúcho da fronteira, massa de manobra dos caudilhos, e dos líderes dos dois lados oponentes.
O que achei bem interessante foi a descrição de muitos aspectos da vida cotidiana das pessoas daquela época, principalmente quando o jornalista se encontrava com Apolinário Porto Alegre.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews