A collection of essays that views Brazil, the largest country in South America, through the multiple lenses of political science, economics, telecommunications, and religion. It discusses the political elites from regional, national, and military standpoints. It also analyzes the economic elites, notably businessmen and industrialists.

Michael L. Conniff, a professor of history at the University of New Mexico, is the author of Urban Politics in Brazil: The Rise of Populism, l925-1945 (1981) and other books. Frank D. McCann is a professor of history at the University of New Hampshire whose books include The Brazilian-American Alliance, 1937-1945 (1973).