Brazil, 1964-1985

How can a book balance national and regional events in Latin America in the tumultuous period of the Cold War? Klein & Lunas recent work on the Brazilian military regime provides an example of how to skillfully tackle this difficult task. Rafael R. Ioris, Journal of Social History "Klein and Luna show that Brazils 'authoritarian development model' (1964-1985) was unique in southern South America in modernizing the tax system and expanding health and pension systems. In fact, they argue that the Brazilian welfare state was largely created by the authoritarian Vargas regime (1930-1945) and the antipopulist military dictators from the 1960s to the 1980s." Joseph Love, Professor Emeritus of History and Latin American & Caribbean Studies, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign "This brief study of Brazils military regime, by two of the leading experts on recent Brazilian social and economic history, could not be timelier. It offers the readerincluding those new to the fielda clear and succinct picture of the many ways in which the military and its civilian allies transformed Brazilian society during their 21-year rule, while also indicating what changes were of a more regional or global character. Though the authors acknowledge the repressive aspects of the regime, and the enduring inequalities it produced, Klein and Luna argue that the period of military rule was an era of unusually profound social changesa point with which anyone interested in Brazil, past or present, must grapple." Barbara Weinstein, The Color of Modernity: So Paulo and the Making of Race and Nation in Brazil "Klein and Luna show that Brazils 'authoritarian development model' (1964-1985) was unique in southern South America in modernizing the tax system and expanding health and pension systems. In fact, they argue that the Brazilian welfare state was largely created by the authoritarian Vargas regime (1930-1945) and the antipopulist military dictators from the 1960s to the 1980s." Joseph Love, Professor Emeritus of History and Latin American & Caribbean Studies, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign -- Joseph Love "This brief study of Brazils military regime, by two of the leading experts on recent Brazilian social and economic history, could not be timelier. It offers the readerincluding those new to the fielda clear and succinct picture of the many ways in which the military and its civilian allies transformed Brazilian society during their 21-year rule, while also indicating what changes were of a more regional or global character. Though the authors acknowledge the repressive aspects of the regime, and the enduring inequalities it produced, Klein and Luna argue that the period of military rule was an era of unusually profound social changesa point with which anyone interested in Brazil, past or present, must grapple." Barbara Weinstein, The Color of Modernity: So Paulo and the Making of Race and Nation in Brazil -- Barbara Weinstein

Herbert S. Klein is Gouverneur Morris Professor of History Emeritus at Columbia University and research fellow and Latin American curator at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He lives in Menlo Park, CA. Francisco Vidal Luna is professor of economics at the University of So Paulo.