This classic work of on the history of 19th-century Brazil now includes a new chapter on women.

The transformation of Brazil from Portuguese colony to independent nation continues through Brazilian independence to the Paraguayan War, the age of reform (1870-1889) and The First Republic (1889-1930).

In the history of post-colonial Latin America no person has held power so firmly and for so long as did Pedro II as emperor of Brazil. This is the first full-length biography in 60 years, and the first in any language to make close use of Pedro II's diaries and family papers.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1965.

The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom Pedro I and his son Dom Pedro II.