Contemporaries saw in Joaquim Nabuco (1849–1910) the leader of the movement that ended Brazilian slavery in 1888. He is still perceived as such by most Brazilians, despite academic trends that have drawn our attention elsewhere – to subaltern agency or larger social and economic forces, or more local or more circumscribed aspects of the movement.

Nabuco's maternal family was one of the oldest planter clans of Brazil. He was also the political heir to one of the monarchy's noted statesmen, José Tomás Nabuco de Araújo. An uncommonly gifted orator, accomplished writer and exemplar of the high society of the time, Nabuco was blessed with striking good looks, great social charm and the burnish of tours abroad. In 1879 he committed himself to abolition, using his unique position in parliament, the press and Europe to that end while working with more radical figures to begin and sustain an urban movement of unprecedented success (1888). With the 1889 collapse of the monarchy, Nabuco retreated from politics, only to re-emerge as a key diplomat as Brazil undertook a more assertive role after the political and financial difficulties of the 1890s. He died Brazil's first ambassador to the United States.

The editors of this volume contribute to new interest in the man associated in part with the centenary of his death. They grace the collection with a brief but well-informed introduction and, throughout the correspondence that follows, very useful notes. They are successful in their intent, which is to recover the nature of Nabuco's successful attempts to secure British support for Brazil's Abolitionists and to provide his views during the struggle's course. Highlights include Nabuco's views on comparative race relations and his very acute assessment of the parliamentary politics of the era. Aside from the correspondence itself, the editors both indicate their sources and suggest direction through a succinct bibliography of the major periodicals of the era, other published primary sources and a select list from among the most significant secondary works. Whatever warmth they might feel towards Nabuco is offset by the occasional reference to contradictions in Nabuco's commitments and allusions to his reputation as an aristocratic dilettante.

There are inevitably aspects of the introduction that a specialist might dispute. Moreover, the editors, pre-eminent historians of the period, may be assuming too much on the part of the reader. The significance of the Christie Affair in the origins of the Law of the Free Womb (1871) goes unmentioned – why the Conservative Viscount de Itaboraí would oppose such a law and the Conservative Viscount do Rio Branco would support it begs an explanation. The nature and significance of the 1880 electoral reform warrants note, as does the rise of urban radicalism and Nabuco's relationship to it (and to such men as José do Patrocínio). However, as a 22-page introduction to Nabuco, to abolition in both Britain and Brazil, and to the relationship between Nabuco and his British colleagues, the authors' work is exemplary. There is much more to admire in such masterful synthesis than to criticise.

The collection's contribution is more important than its modest size might suggest. Two volumes of Nabuco's correspondence were selected by Nabuco's daughter and biographer, Carolina, and one son, José Tomás, selected another. While connoisseurs might enjoy these, such pleasures are ignored by most and are something of an acquired taste – one has to know much about the milieu to see the point. Hence, our debt here is to the editors for their introduction and well-informed notes. More interestingly, this is a rediscovery of the relatively small amount of Nabuco that is available in English. Indeed, if the editors' work inspires translations of Nabuco from his own language, we would be all the richer. Those who read French can sample his literary, religious and philosophical work, and his erudite diplomatic defence of Brazil's rights in Amazonia, but Nabuco's great works – the three-volume biography of his father, the unique autobiographical essays comprising Minha formação, and the speeches in and out of parliament – live only in Portuguese. This is a very great pity. Nabuco was one of the greatest orators of his era, in which rhetoric was a politically critical, cultivated art. Minha formação remains unique among the era's memoirs, savoury nourishment for those curious about Brazilian elite society, politics and literature c. 1870–1900. As for his father's biography, Um estadista do império, it remains the indispensable introduction to the monarchy's history.

Nonetheless, one is grateful for what one has here. The letters give us the times, recover Abolitionist strategy and provide insight into the perspective of key actors. In this collection, the complicated politics of the movement and the charm and commitment of its champion are manifest. More important, the letters provide the indispensable source for Nabuco's determination to secure British abolitionist support, a significant aspect of Brazil's Abolitionist movement. The correspondence and the editors discuss the Brazilian impact of British public support, the editors arguing that it had particular importance for the political elite, if not the planters. One might find this problematic; after all, public British condemnation of slavery was as old as the century, yet, deep into the 1880s, slavery continued to enjoy general support among both the planters and their representatives, comprising the majority of both parties. Slavery was perceived as irreplaceable in terms of private fortunes and plantation labour – thus, one might suggest instead that the importance of British abolitionist support for the movement may have lain with impact on the movement itself. The leaders of the movement successfully sought to recruit from the urban middle class and masses; a central part of the abolitionist argument to them, as both the introduction and the correspondence here make clear, was that slavery undercut Brazil's claims to, or potential for, civilisation. Britain, as one of the great exemplars of civilisation, provided an opinion that mattered. Support for Brazil's Abolitionists in the London Times doubtless provided the invaluable impression that their movement had the blessing of the civilised world. These letters are the invaluable record of how that opinion was shaped and transmitted.