About this book:

Step into the epic, sweeping story of Brazil—a continent-sized nation forged from indigenous civilizations, colonial ambition, gold rushes, slavery, empire, dictatorship, and hard-won democracy. *A Concise History of Brazil: The Story of a Nation* takes you on a riveting journey from the sophisticated societies that thrived in the Amazon millennia before European contact, through the sugar plantations and gold mines that built (and brutalized) a colony, to the dramatic flight of a Portuguese king, the late abolition of slavery, and the turbulent political upheavals that shaped the modern republic. In clear, compelling prose, this single-volume history weaves together the forces of race, class, environment, and power that make Brazil one of the most complex and consequential countries on Earth.

Whether you know Brazil through its music, its football, or its headlines, this book will transform the way you understand it. Discover how a nation of breathtaking natural abundance and deep social inequality continues to grapple with its past while standing at the center of global debates over climate, democracy, and development. Concise yet rich, accessible yet intellectually serious, *A Concise History of Brazil* is the essential starting point for anyone who wants to understand not just Brazil—but the modern world it helped create.