This was one of the best books for information on the pantanal ever. I have been there 5 times and it is like the book said it is!

This is a well-written and highly personal account of a naturalist-photographer's adventures and misadventures in one of the least known regions of the Brazilian interior, an area teeming with natural beauty that is rapidly being destroyed. The book begins as a light-hearted journey undertaken by an equipment-laden photographer who negotiates his way into the heart of the Pantanal amid much naive bumbling and enthusiasm. It ends on a note of despair as we encounter the ultimate expression of man's cruelty both to himself and to nature, an illegal wild-life market in a Rio suburb where rare birds are caged and mutilated. Along the way we learn much about the history and geography of the Pantanal and of the political corruption that is endemic to Brazil, which has increasingly come under international scrutiny for practices of which no nation is wholly innocent. There are powerful portraits of leading conservationists, such as the brilliant cinematographer, Arne Sucksdorf, and the famed ornithologist, Helmut Sick. The key to Banks's effective presentation of his ecological message is his personal involvement throughout the narrative: the problems of poaching lead to a day with an incredibly inept and thuggish police patrol; the problems of gold-mining and mercury poisoning lead to a day in the pits. We are treated, moreover, to the full range of Brazilian society, from cowboys and peasants to high-placed officials; comrades and friends jostle for space alongside more dubious types. All in all, this is a fine achievement that should be read by anyone with an interest in environment affairs, Brazilian folkways, or, simply, human adventure candidly told. It is considered the leading introduction to the Pantanal and is the basis for a prize-winning film.

Pele: His Life And Times by Harry Harris (chief soccer correspondent of the London periodical "Mirror") is a first-rate, penetrating look at the world famous superstar athlete and the "Black Pearl" of championship soccer. From the soccer star's birth in Brazil 1940 to his unbelieveable triple set of World Cup championships to daily and family life, Pele: His Life And Times looks at everything that went into the making of a truly amazing sports figure and more. Pele: His Life And Times is a superbly presented and highly recommended sports biography and a "must" for the legions of Pele fans.

Creatively conceived and beautifully written. Besides a first rate contribution to linguistic anthropology and Amazonian studies, it's a great read. Check out the amazing musical transcriptions in the appendix.

Tristeza nao tein fin, felicidade sim.. (sadness has no end, happiness does), the words of the song from Caetano Veloso sum up the life of a little kid in the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, streets that are the same in all South America, in Asia, in the whole world. Abuse, prostitution, child delinquency in contrast with the view of the reality through the eyes of beings awakening to life. Candid characters within a cage of adults with decadent and corrupt morality. Is this the world we created?. The simplicity of the style of the tale is the testimony of a real life story that is absolutely beyond fiction.

In this UNESCO publication four North American researchers discuss how racial background effected class rank in four distinct regions of Northern Brazil in the early '50s.

The lurking question for all four researchers was whether the U.S. racist paradigm in the in the early 50s - in which color invariably 'trumped' class (based on wealth and education)- could be applied to Northern Brazil.

According to the researchers, class ranking in Northern Brazil was a tartan weave of wealth, education, social and ethnic heritage and color. Per one study, these factors could so effect social status that a wealthy individual with obvious African heritage might be viewed as a 'branco', i.e. a high status white, rather than as a 'Preto', a low status 'Negro'. Nonetheless, Brazilians of all classes under study appear to have had more terms to define gradations of race - width of nose, texture of hair, color of skin - than the inuit have for snow...

There's enough information in this compendium for the reader to come to her/his own conclusions and, as a bonus, though this is an academic work, there's enough tasty bits to make it a palatable read.

A terrifically comprehensive history of the impact of European settlement on the native population of Brazil. Hemming has introduced a style and content that makes this as much a story book as a formal text book. The brutal and tragic consequences of the meeting of two extremely diverse cultures are brought to life in this book, with the greed and self-righteousness of the Portugese settlers set against the innocence and primitive nature of the indigenous 'Indians'. Anybody with an interest in the history of Brazil would find this a truly fascinating read.

Phillip Berryman's book insightfully captures the religious goings on of Sao Paolo and Caracas. This book goes a long way towards explaining the interaction between the traditional Catholic ways of religion, the mainline Protestants and the relatively new Pentacostal movements.

Furthermore, Berryman's study serves as a model for the way in which these interactions have taken place in other areas of the world, such as the US, where there are far along, Africa, where they are just beginning and Asia which is somewhere in between.

I would have been interested in more history of these developments, especially how the movements emmigrated from the US, then again, I'm probably one of those overly US centered Americans. :)

As a general warning, this is the fourth book of a tightly knit series. While the book is written to stand on its own, greater enjoyment can be found be reading the previous three novels: Midnight at the Well of Soul, Exiles at the Well of Souls, and Quest for the Well of Souls; before reading this one.

This book begins back at the same interstellar community where the previous novels begin (it's know as the Comworlds, or the Com for short). An alien race has arrived from another galaxy and is bent on conquest of ours, and since they're more advanced than the Com, they're winning.

Mavra Chang, survivor of the War of the Well World, has just returned to the Comworlds.

The true reality of the situation is far grimmer than they realize, and when they do catch up with Brazil, they regret it.

Overall, the series really starts to pick up steam here, and that after admitting that the previous novels are already good to begin with. END

Dean's work is an historical geography of a coffee growing region in São Paulo state. Issues of land ownership, including squatters' rights, the granting of sesmarias, and land speculation are of interest in this text. Dean also examines the frontier's allure in that social distinctions seem to disappear on the frontier. The reason Dean gives for the lack of social distinctions and privileges is that land ownership determines one's social status.