Citizen Emperor: Pedro II and the Making of Brazil, 1825-1891 - Hardcover

"This definitive portrait will no doubt remain the standard work on Pedro II for a long time to come." -- Latin American Research Review "Barman, in this scholarly biography, meticulously researched and thoughtfully analyzed, rescues Pedro II from many of the myths that have gathered around his rule. . . . He has sought to restore the Emperor to his due place in Brazil's history and to document his policy toward the great national issues." -- Times Literary Supplement "An absorbing and highly-readable analysis that should appeal to students and specialists alike. . . . Barman's ability to blend the personal, political, and institutional makes this political biography stand out. Its documentary richness, depth, and engaging style set a high standard indeed." -- Canadian Journal of History "Barman has written the essential biography of Pedro II, a marvelous book that explains better than any other how the Brazillian monarchy lasted as long as it did in a hemisphere hostile to royalty, and why it abruptly collapsed in a cloud of public apathy. . . . The work is carefully crafted and stylishly written; it approaches perfection in the biographer's art." -- Caribbean and Latin America "This is the best biography in English of the mand who reigned over Brazil from 1840 to 1889. . . . This beautifully-written biography, with a solid empirical basis, is indespensable for the understanding of Pedro II and the micro-politics of his reign." -- The Americas "Barman's Citizen Emperor is a masterful portrait of Pedro II that provides a richly documented study of elites, high politics, and the Court in nineteenth-century Brazil." -- Latin American Research Review "Barman's lucid, detailed, and admiring biography . . . fills an important gap in the literature of Brazil's imperial history." -- Choice "This well-written major work is thoroughly researched, and it covers Dom Pedro's life in great detail. He will not need another biographer." -- History: Review of New Books "Likely to become a cornerstone in Brazilian historiography . . . Citizen Emperor is an eloquently written, evenhanded and full-bodied treatment of Pedro II, the man, the monarch, and his times. . . . Comprehensively researched and documented, this work is liberally endowed with revealing quotations from family, friends, observers, and the emperor himself." -- Luso-Brazilian Review "The focus on Dom Pedro (and the abundant documentary base cited by the author) has produced a work that will be indispensible to specialists, all the more so because scholars of the empire have shied away from this sort of reconstruction and analysis for so long. General readers will find it lively, accessible, and jargon-free."-Historian

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.