Linda Lewin is Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Politics and Parentela in Paraíba: A Case Study of Family-Based Oligarchy in Brazil.

"Long after most of our books have been consigned to remote storage facilities or (worse yet) weeded, historians will continue to consult Lewin's invaluable Surprise Heirs volumes."—Hendrik Kraay, University of Calgary "Linda Lewin has provided an invaluable contribution to historians of colonial and imperial Brazil. Few historians would be willing to brave the dense thicket of legal codes and commentaries that compromise the source base of this book."—Colonial Latin American Historical Review "Lewin's two volume opus is an elegant and erudite offering in Brazilian legal and political history... Its great strength is its unflinching willingness to approach Brazilian legal and political cultures on their own terms."—Law and History Review "[Surprise Heirs I and II] represent a substantial and significant advance in scholarship on the legal history of marriage, illegitimacy and inheritance in Brazil."—The Luso-Brazilian Review "These two volumes [Surprise Heirs I and Surprise Heirs II] represent a major contribution to our understanding of how law relates to social realities, political agendas, and religious values. Moreover, Lewin's meticulously researched study is a sterling addition to a small but growing list of works that seriously address the social and economic effects of law in either the private or the public spheres."—Latin American Research Review

Linda Lewin is Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Politics and Parentela in Paraíba: A Case Study of Family-Based Oligarchy in Brazil.

"Long after most of our books have been consigned to remote storage facilities or (worse yet) weeded, historians will continue to consult Lewin's invaluable Surprise Heirs volumes."—Hendrik Kraay, University of Calgary "Linda Lewin has provided an invaluable contribution to historians of colonial and imperial Brazil. Few historians would be willing to brave the dense thicket of legal codes and commentaries that compromise the source base of this book."—Colonial Latin American Historical Review "Lewin's two volume opus is an elegant and erudite offering in Brazilian legal and political history... Its great strength is its unflinching willingness to approach Brazilian legal and political cultures on their own terms."—Law and History Review "[Surprise Heirs I and II] represent a substantial and significant advance in scholarship on the legal history of marriage, illegitimacy and inheritance in Brazil."—The Luso-Brazilian Review "These two volumes [Surprise Heirs I and Surprise Heirs II] represent a major contribution to our understanding of how law relates to social realities, political agendas, and religious values. Moreover, Lewin's meticulously researched study is a sterling addition to a small but growing list of works that seriously address the social and economic effects of law in either the private or the public spheres."—Latin American Research Review

Linda Lewin is Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Politics and Parentela in Paraíba: A Case Study of Family-Based Oligarchy in Brazil.

"Long after most of our books have been consigned to remote storage facilities or (worse yet) weeded, historians will continue to consult Lewin's invaluable Surprise Heirs volumes."—Hendrik Kraay, University of Calgary "Linda Lewin has provided an invaluable contribution to historians of colonial and imperial Brazil. Few historians would be willing to brave the dense thicket of legal codes and commentaries that compromise the source base of this book."—Colonial Latin American Historical Review "Lewin's two volume opus is an elegant and erudite offering in Brazilian legal and political history... Its great strength is its unflinching willingness to approach Brazilian legal and political cultures on their own terms."—Law and History Review "[Surprise Heirs I and II] represent a substantial and significant advance in scholarship on the legal history of marriage, illegitimacy and inheritance in Brazil."—The Luso-Brazilian Review "These two volumes [Surprise Heirs I and Surprise Heirs II] represent a major contribution to our understanding of how law relates to social realities, political agendas, and religious values. Moreover, Lewin's meticulously researched study is a sterling addition to a small but growing list of works that seriously address the social and economic effects of law in either the private or the public spheres."—Latin American Research Review