In this astute analysis of his native country, Senhor Prado indicates that the first requirement for an understanding of Brazil is a rigorous inquiry into the formative colonial period and, more particularly, into the situation that existed on the verge of independence. By concentrating on the beginning of the nineteenth century, when colonial institutions had exhausted their potential for development and were proving inadequate to handle the economic and social problems of the country, Prado exposes the roots of the conflicts that beset contemporary Brazil.
