As Europe rebuilds from two world wars, Dos Passos sets his sights on Brazil’s economic and political renaissance. Among the country’s friendly, determined people, the author feels rejuvenated. Redemption is on his mind—can Brazil avoid the mistakes that America made during its industrialization?

“When people ask me why I keep wanting to go to Brazil,” Dos Passos writes, “part of the answer is that it’s  because the country is so vast and so raw and sometimes so monstrously beautiful; but it’s mostly because I find it easy to get along with the people.”