Brazil’s prominence on the global stage is on the rise. Its economic and political clout grows. The nation, which will play host to both the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics, will gain more attention as the sporting events draw closer. Despite Brazil’s size and increasing importance, few general overviews of contemporary life in the country currently exist in English. Brazil Today sets out to remedy this. Co-edited by John J. Crocitti (The Brazil Reader) and Monique Vallance, Brazil Today provides readers with a comprehensive overview of all facets of contemporary Brazilian life from 1960 to the present.

The entries are arranged in alphabetical order by topic within two volumes. Each volume begins with a List of Entries to be found within the work. As both this list and the entries themselves are alphabetically arranged, this list seems redundant. More useful is the Topic Finder, which is also found at the start of each volume and arranges entries by topic. The first volume contains an introductory piece on contemporary Brazil, an introduction to Brazil’s geography, and a chronology of Brazilian history from 1415 to the present.

The work is successful in covering an admirable assortment of topics, so that all aspects of modern-day life in Brazil receive coverage. There are entries on politicians, cultural figures, and important places and events. Each entry is signed by its author. When an entry mentions a person or subject that has received its own entry, bold-type is used to signify that such an entry exists. Entries conclude with a “See Also” list of additional entries that may merit attention and a list of “Suggested Readings.”

Because many people contributed to this work, there is a lack of uniformity in writing style that can be aggravating at times. To take one small example, some authors use only Celsius to describe temperatures, while others provide temperature data in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. Most puzzling of all was the very first entry in volume one, which surprisingly suggests that the tropical state of Acre has an average temperature of 25 degrees Fahrenheit.

One of the strengths of Brazil Today is the amount of space dedicated to the geography of the country. Entries provide users with overviews on each state and each major city, and on geographical features that have shaped the nation. Also, an introduction to the country’s geography is found at the start of volume one. Thus it is surprising that the there are no maps to be found within either volume. The addition of maps would have made the work much more useful and usable. It is frustrating to read of places and not be able to quickly consult where they are in relation to other parts of the country.

Despite these flaws, the work does fill a void that currently exists for general reference sources related to Brazil. Larger public libraries and academic libraries hoping to expand their Latin American collections would do well to add this. Institutions that have purchased similar ABC-CLIO title (China Today, India Today) may also want to consider purchasing this item.