THE MANSIONS AND THE SHANTIES

nown throughout Latin America as a great sociological-historical classic, this massive work is a sequel to Freyre's equally classic study- The Masters and the Slaves- which first appeared here in 1946. This social history, subtitled ""The Decline of the Rural and the Rise of the Urban Patriarchy in Brazil"", through its contrast of the mansion and the shanty shows ""the larger house in relation to the maller, the two in relation to the street, the square, the land, the soil, the ungle, even the sea"". This approach is reminiscent of Da Cunha who in Rebellion in the Backlands used one small aspect of his culture as a microcosm. Freyre ses the two opposed archetypal homes to probe deeply into the relationships between black, white, Indian and mulatto, between man and woman, father and son, city and plantation, in 18th and 19th century Brazil. The translation by Harriet e Onis is unquestionably faithful to the original but the general reader will find this an exceptionally demanding work. It is not intended for them, but for students and authorities in the field and it will have a permanent and important place in all public and academic libraries.