Drawing on three decades of observation and on a vast secondary literature about Brazil, the author paints a hard-hitting, yet sensitive picture of Brazilian life and society. This provocative, interpretive account looks to the historical legacies of Brazil's past to explain contemporary conditions in the second most populous country of the Western Hemisphere. Topics addressed include race, religiosity, social divisions, and the methods used by Brazilians to cope with the world's most inequitable income distribution. The hard yet vibrant lives of ordinary men and women are sensitively portrayed both in the narrative and through award-winning photographs by Genevieve Naylor.