Empire Adrift: The Portuguese Court in Rio De Janeiro, 1808-1821. Dieser Artikel ist nicht verfügbar.Empire Adrift: The Portuguese Court in Rio De Janeiro, 1808-1821

In 1807, the Portuguese prince regent Dom João made an extraordinary decision. Although horrified by the idea of sea travel, Napoleon's troops were closing in on Lisbon so he opted to transplant his entire court and government to Portugal's largest colony, Brazil. 10,000 aristocrats, ministers, priests and servants clambered aboard the rickety fleet. After a rough passage they spilled off their ships bedraggled and lice-ridden to the astonishment of their new-world subjects.

Thus began a thirteen-year period of imperial rule from a 'tropical Versailles' set against the city's jungle-clad mountains. But this only partially obscured the brutal workings of what was then the largest slaving port in the Americas. While the court grappled with the dark side of its own empire, Brazil was coming of age. Patrick Wilcken brings this remarkable period to the life, blending vivid contemporary testament with a rich evocation of a time in history when European royalty went native.

Patrick Wilcken grew up in Sydney and studied at Goldsmiths College and the Institute of Latin American Studies in London. He has contributed Brazil-related reviews and features to the Times Literary Supplement and the Guardian. He has spent lengthy periods in Rio de Janeiro and now lives in Battersea, London. This is his first book.