"Relatively bland historical introduction for general readers emphasizes economic development, social inequality, and apparent inability of reforms to address inequality. Begins in 1500, but more than half of volume is devoted to post-1930 Brazil and contemporary issues. Getúlio Vargas is central both as a reformist turning point in politics and as a representative enigma. Useful, but much less piquant and heartfelt than author's Brazilian legacies...

An explanation of how the nation's past shapes its present and fortells its future.

A narrative with all the drama of good fiction, this book is an accurate, day-by-day account of the pivotal event of American history--the 1787 Convention that drafted the Constitution. Transported to Philadelphia with fifty-five delegates from twelve states, the reader shares their four-month struggle to create a new framework of government to preserve a shaky Union. Written with the immediacy of vivid reporting, the book reverberates with great...

Looks at the history of the Mississippi River Valley in the nineteenth century and the economy that developed there, powered by steam engines and slave labor.