Empires and Exploration: Richard Francis Burton’s Travels in Brazil

Empires and Explorations interweaves nineteenth-century Brazilian history, the extraordinary life of Richard Francis Burton, and the use of travel writing by historians. Burton witnessed the origins of the early processes of nation-building in Brazil, including the power and influence of Great Britain on the Brazilian monarchy that had declared its independence in the 1820s. A seasoned explorer of South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas, Burton provided a panoramic view of Brazil, highlighting the obstacles created by region, race, class, religion, and culture and offered advice on how to build a nation from the perspective of an iconoclastic Victorian Englishman. Marshall C. Eakin follows Burton’s path and reflects on how the landscape, character, and identity of Brazil have evolved.

Marshall C. Eakin is Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus at Vanderbilt University where he taught from 1983 to 2024. A specialist in modern Brazilian history, he is the author of six books including The History of Latin America: Collision of Cultures and Becoming Brazilians: Race and National Identity in Twentieth-Century Brazil. From 2004-2011 he served as the Executive Director of the Brazilian Studies Association. In June and July 2022, he spent six weeks retracing Richard Burton’s travels across eastern Brazil.