“A marvelous and broadly conceived study of great sweep, impressive documentation, and original insight. Beattie shows us how an imaginative study of the military can greatly illuminate issues of masculinity, nationalism, race, social control, and bondage. Its attention to comparative history, its focus on explaining change, and the care and grace of its writing make it something of a model ... Read moreof what institutional histories can achieve.”—James C. Scott, Yale University “This is the most original work on Brazilian social history by a U.S. scholar in the last fifteen years. Events and issues become newly understandable in Peter M. Beattie’s presentation of military recruitment as a direct measure of state-building in Brazil.”—Dain Borges, University of California, San Diego Show Less