Go-betweens and the Colonization of Brazil: 1500–1600

The one thing about that book that stuck with me the most is how rare it is to find such a thoroughly researched and cited text. The text itself is fantastic, the organization thorough. I found it particularly informative to have events discussed more than once in differing lenses than to attempt to cover the event once from all lenses. I learned much.

Many who write about Brazil in English fall into a strange category of not presenting an English text but a Portuguese text that has been word for word translated into English; this creates problems for the bilingual who cannot know if the word choice is conscious or relies on a faulty understanding of the translated language.

This is not that. While there is use of Portuguese in the text, it is always given a decent, functional translation.

During the scope of my research, this has been my hands-down favorite text. The stories of individuals shape the larger social forces, leaving neither too removed a summary nor too granular a scope.