"Introduction to Brazil by a law professor who has been an engaged visitor since the 1960s. Themes of race, political power, violence, environment, religious diversity, and popular culture are made accessible through biographical profiles. Balances exuberance and indignation better than most recent introductions, but at a length that may exhaust the general reader. See Levine's work (item #bi 00006099#) or Eakin's (item #bi 00006100#) for more succinct introductory studies"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.

Includes maps of: [Brazil].

Who are the Brazilians? -- The Portuguese -- The Africans -- The Indians -- The immigrants -- The pyramid of power in Brazil -- The haves -- The have-nots -- The curse of violence in Brazil -- The culture of brutality -- Abusing nature's bounty -- The Amazon Basin -- Spiritual Brazil -- Roman Catholicism -- Evangelicals on the move -- In search of what makes Brazilians Brazilian -- Soccer madness -- In the Land of Carnival.