Table of Contents

1. The competing master narratives of Capoeira history.
2. Capoeira in the context of the black atlantic
3. Capoeragem in Rio de Janeiro, c. 1800-1930
4. Workers, vagrants and tough guys in Bahia, c. 1860-1950
5. Bimba and the development of the 'regional' style
6. Pastinha and the codification of the Angola style
7. Contemporary Capoeira, 1950 - 2000
8. Conclusion: The contemporary meanings of capoeira
Bibliography

About the Author

Matthias Röhrig Assunção studied history and Latin American Studies in Paris (Vincennes, Jussieu and Sorbonne Nouvelle). After some years spent carrying out field research in Brazil he completed his PhD at the Free University in Berlin. From 1985 to 1992 he taught History at the Latin American Institute in Berlin, before going to the University of Essex, UK in 1993. He is currently Lecturer for the Department of History and the Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of Essex, UK. His publications include a history of plantation society in Maranhão, Northern Brazil, an oral history of a peasant and slave revolt in the same province, and the edition of an anthology of the Brazilian baroque poet Gregório de Mattos.

Reviews

'In seven meticulously researched chapters, based on archival research, the published historical research in Portuguese and English, interviews with 17 masters, and analysis of twelve capoeira magazines published in Brazil, the USA and Germany, Assuncao contrasts the popular myths that capoeira enthusiasts share with the sober facts.' -Sport, Education and Society'This is by a wide margin the best book yet published on the history of capoeira, in any language. Matthias Rohrig Assuncao has done the archival digging that most previous authors have been unable or unwilling to undertake, and has avoided the essentialism and willful invention of tradition that pervade the most popular accounts.' - American Historical Review'As a work of historical scholarship, this book is consistently topnotch. It is required reading for anyone who cares about capoeira, and strongly recommended for all those interested in modern Brazil and Latin American popular culture more generally.' - American Historical Review"This publication is a readable and thorough summary with useful analysis of the history of the art." -- Robert N. Anderson, Winston-Salem State University, The Americas

'In seven meticulously researched chapters, based on archival research, the published historical research in Portuguese and English, interviews with 17 masters, and analysis of twelve capoeira magazines published in Brazil, the USA and Germany, Assuncao contrasts the popular myths that capoeira enthusiasts share with the sober facts.' -Sport, Education and Society'This is by a wide margin the best book yet published on the history of capoeira, in any language. Matthias Rohrig Assuncao has done the archival digging that most previous authors have been unable or unwilling to undertake, and has avoided the essentialism and willful invention of tradition that pervade the most popular accounts.' - American Historical Review'As a work of historical scholarship, this book is consistently topnotch. It is required reading for anyone who cares about capoeira, and strongly recommended for all those interested in modern Brazil and Latin American popular culture more generally.' - American Historical Review