“Samba is very similar to Brazil. Samba is a mixture. It’s resistance and conformism. It’s sadness that moves. It’s the father of pleasure and the son of pain.” With these words, Lira Neto (Fortaleza, 1963) sums up what for him is samba, a musical genre that he biographies in his new book, Uma História do Samba (A History of Samba). The first of three volumes was released in February, in order to tell the story of modern urban samba. Thus, leaving aside – although not totally – the roots of the genre, the narrative begins in post-abolitionist Rio de Janeiro of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

A writer and journalist, Neto received a Jabuti award for the biography of José de Alencar and is the author of a successful trilogy about Getúlio Vargas. Now, the biography of the best known Brazilian musical genre appears as a continuation of his…