Early Brazil presents a collection of original sources, many published for the first time in English and some never before published in any language, that illustrates the process of conquest, colonization, and settlement in Brazil. The volume emphasizes the actions and interactions of the indigenous peoples, Portuguese, and Africans in the formation of the first extensive plantation colony based on slavery in the Americas, and it also includes documents that reveal the political, social, religious, and economic life of the colony. Original documents on early Brazilian history are difficult to find in English, and this collection will serve the interests of undergraduate students, as well as graduate students, who seek to make comparisons or to understand the history of Portuguese expansion.

‘Nothing like this collection exists in English. These documents offer well-selected representations of the given issues and many of these are translated into English for the first time, making the volume an invaluable addition to the currently quite limited English language literature on the first two centuries of Brazilian development.’

Herbert S. Klein - Stanford University

‘This collection of documents - many of which are being published in English translation for the first time - opens up the study of early Brazilian history to students and scholars. It will allow Brazil to be much more widely included in comparative discussions of institutional, economic, and religious histories of Latin America.’

Alida C. Metcalf - Rice University