Focusing on the period from 1840 to 1889, the author explores the specific ways in which granting protection, official positions, and other favors in exchange for political and personal loyalty worked to benefit the interests of wealthy Brazilians. The book is based principally on both the official and private correspondence of politicians, judges and bureaucrats, using these materials to look in depth at political practice. "Whatever the outcome of the current crisis of Latin American scholarship, here is one book that will not be swept into the dustbin of historiography ... This is a masterful study: imaginatively conceived, solidly researched, tightly reasoned, clearly and forcefully written. Graham's conclusions will be challenged, but his work will endure."—The American Historical Review.