Brazil

Zambi of Palmares is Beheaded

On 20 November 1695, Zambi of Palmares – ruler of an ‘invincible’ community of former slaves in the Brazilian jungle – was killed by the Portuguese.

‘The Vote is of the People’

Brazilian democracy is young, hard-won and under threat. As the country goes to the polls, its history reminds us that the right to vote is not a given.

The Fiat 147 production line, 5 July 1979. Image: Fiat/Stellantis.

It’s Not Easy Being Green

Brazil’s cars have run on ‘green fuel’ for a century, but this has not come without costs.

The Origins of Rio de Janeiro

The teeming metropolis was once an undeveloped natural bay which became the site of a battle between Portugal and France for control of the New World.

Brazil in the First World War

Roderick Barman examines the circumstances surrounding Brazil’s entry into the Great War and appraises the conflict’s legacy on the developing nation.

A hand-coloured postcard of an SPR train descending to the mouth of a tunnel.

A British Railway in Brazil

The San Paulo Railway, funded with money from the City of London, was one of the engineering marvels of the Victorian age.

In the Time of the Flemings: the Dutch in Brazil, 1624-54

C.R. Boxer recalls “the time of the Flemings” (Tempo dos Flamengos), as the period of the Dutch occupation of Pernambuco province in Brazil used to be called.

Empire of Exceptions: The Making of Modern Brazil

Brazil may be one of the 21st century’s emerging superpowers, but its history is a mystery to many. Gabriel Paquette tells the story of its early years as an independent state.

King Henry's formal entry into Rouen in 1550, showing the Brazilians' performance in his honour in the 'jungle' outside the city walls

Spain and Portugal divided almost all of South America between them, but in the 16th century the French also had commercial and colonial ambitions in Brazil. Robert Knecht tells the stories of two French expeditions that ended in disaster.