Today I’m speaking with Professor Christopher Ebert of Brooklyn College and Professor Thiago Kause of UNIRIO, which is the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. They are co-authoring a book about the history of the city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of colonial Brazil. Chris was my master’s thesis advisor about a decade ago and he previously wrote a book called Between Empires: Brazilian Sugar in the Early Atlantic Economy, 1550-1630. He specializes in Latin American history from an Atlantic perspective. Thiago is a professor of Early Modern History and Brazilian history. We discuss the process and value of co-authoring a history book –which is pretty unique in this field– and then we dig into what made Salvador an important city in the colonial Atlantic world and why it continues to be such a special city within Brazil and the Americas.

Recommended Books:

Blacks of the Land by John Monteiro

Divining Slavery and Freedom by João José Reis