Brazilian history through the eyes of its people, 04 Oct 2000
I am an avid reader of novels which try to humanise the history of a country by telling it through fictional family lines, whose lives are enmeshed is real, bona-fide historical events. But for a book truly to work, two pre-conditions must be in place: the characters in question should be drawn from dissimilar backgrounds, which depends mostly on the appeal of the country depicted (Michener's Hawaii springs to mind) plus the author must be highly conversant with its social history and have enough flair to sustain interest over the multitude of characters, episodes and, ultimately, pages.

Brazil and Errol Uys fit the bill perfectly. The country is a fascinating amalgam of colonisers, native Indians and slaves and Uys has a compelling narrative style with down-to-earth dialogue, a first-rate selection of events to illustrate, leading to many a sub-climax, and a wealth of representative individuals to portray. You will be spellbound by the detail of the life and customs of the Tupí Indians, you will shake your head with disbelief at the Boy's Own adventures of the bandeirantes and you will be carried away by the treachery of the first failed movements for independence, mirroring those in the United States. The section on the devastating Paraguayan War is my favourite in a continuous stream of highlights, with its cinematic sweep from bloody battlefields and wounded soldiers to corrupt dictators and their beautiful mistresses.

Just as a postscript: this book inspired me to learn Portuguese, travel to Brazil and study its history; I can not personally praise it more than that.

Brazilian history through the eyes of its people, 04 Oct 2000
I am an avid reader of novels which try to humanise the history of a country by telling it through fictional family lines, whose lives are enmeshed is real, bona-fide historical events. But for a book truly to work, two pre-conditions must be in place: the characters in question should be drawn from dissimilar backgrounds, which depends mostly on the appeal of the country depicted (Michener's Hawaii springs to mind) plus the author must be highly conversant with its social history and have enough flair to sustain interest over the multitude of characters, episodes and, ultimately, pages.

Brazil and Errol Uys fit the bill perfectly. The country is a fascinating amalgam of colonisers, native Indians and slaves and Uys has a compelling narrative style with down-to-earth dialogue, a first-rate selection of events to illustrate, leading to many a sub-climax, and a wealth of representative individuals to portray. You will be spellbound by the detail of the life and customs of the Tupí Indians, you will shake your head with disbelief at the Boy's Own adventures of the bandeirantes and you will be carried away by the treachery of the first failed movements for independence, mirroring those in the United States. The section on the devastating Paraguayan War is my favourite in a continuous stream of highlights, with its cinematic sweep from bloody battlefields and wounded soldiers to corrupt dictators and their beautiful mistresses.

Just as a postscript: this book inspired me to learn Portuguese, travel to Brazil and study its history; I can not personally praise it more than that.

Outstanding book, full of truly American courage., 13 Apr 1999
I have take contact with this book. A very strong story about children who became mature men and women. Some of them were then American public well known heroes, but all of them were human heroes.

Plenty of truly stories Uys show us not only some individual stories, but how a social spirit could appear in rough times.