Brazil: The Once and Future Country

Vanderbilt University historian Marshall C. Eakin provides an authoritative survey of Latin America's largest country. His broad and insightful overview reveals Brazil's many facets, including its racial melting pot (which often startles foreign visitors), economic challenges ("Brazil remains a rich country full of poor people"), and (in the book's most entertaining chapter) its carnival culture. Although Brazilians have plenty to worry about--rain forest depletion, a relatively high rate of HIV infection, and the most unequal distribution of wealth of any country in the world--Eakin suggests that Brazil is on the verge of entering "into the ranks of the great powers."