title: Prince of the People: The Life and Times of a Brazilian Free Man of Color
author: Eduardo Silva
description: In late 18th-century Brazil, during the twilight of the rule of the Emperor Pedro the Second, a free African Brazilian, Candido da Fonseca Galvao, attracted considerable attention, in part because of his perceived eccentric behavior. A veteran of Brazil's war with Paraguay, Dom Oba II d'Africa, as he was called, acted as a spokesman for the poor and representative of the black population to the political powers. Though he was considered demented by much of white society, he gained such notoriety that he was even received by the emperor. Silva, a well-known Brazilian historian, has written a fascinating study of Dom Oba that serves as a microhistory of Brazil and a view of black history seldom available. Though it treats a figure not known outside of Brazil, the story is fascinating and extremely well written and would be of interest to academic and public libraries alike.<BR><I>- Mark L. Grover, Brigham Young Univ., Provo, Ut.</I><BR>Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  The Brazilian Cat
  
  
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  # The Brazilian Cat
  
  
  ### Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  
  
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  t is hard luck on a young fellow to have expensive
  
  
  tastes, great expectations, aristocratic connections, but no actual
  
  
  money in his pocket, and no profession by which he may earn any. The
  
  
  fact was that my father, a good, sanguine, easy-going man, had such
  
  
  confidence in the wealth and benevolence of his bachelor elder brother,
  
  
  Lord Southerton, that he took it for granted that I, his only son,
  
  
  would never be called upon to earn a living for myself. He imagined
  
  
  that if there were not a vacancy for me on the great Southerton
  
  
  Estates, at least there would be found some post in that diplomatic
  
  
  service which still remains the special preserve of our privileged
  
  
  classes. He died too early to realize how false 