To Be A Slave in Brazil: 1550-1888

by Katia M. De Queiros Mattoso, Arthur Goldhammer (Translator)

This book was published originally in French in 1979 and in Portuguese in 1982. Written without scholarly footnotes for a general readership, it is a deceptively simple book direct in its presentation, lacking a specialized jargon, and organized in an imaginative and interesting way. But it also is a volume that reflects some of the most recent and innovative research on the question of slavery. Putting aside the somewhat arid debate over the feudal or capitalist nature of the "slave mode of production" and the political aspects of the movement for abolition, To Be a Slave in Brazil presents an overview of Brazilian slavery which reflects the trend toward study of the slave community, religion, the family, and other features of the internal aspects of slavery.

Genres: History, Brazil, Latin American History, Nonfiction

250 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1986

Reviews

[Carsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book definitely shows its age and provides an oversimplified and incomplete picture of slavery in Brazil; many chapters ended with the author basically saying there wasn't enough information to make any judgements or establish facts about the lives of enslaved people, so it left me wanting to know more.

[Elinor Kleber Diggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this my Freshman year of College for my Colonial Latin America Class.

Important information. Nothing else really.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every book I read for this class was well written and eye opening...