In the second half of the 1970s, the military dictatorship that had ruled Brazil since 1964 faced a multidimensional crisis. Oil price shocks and rising international interest rates ended the “economic miracle” and triggered inflation, the opposition achieved surprising victories in parliamentary elections, and US President Jimmy Carter’s human rights diplomacy created unprecedented tension between Brazil and the United States. The days of the general-presidents seemed numbered, but their ability to control the “slow, gradual, and safe opening” did not appear to be threatened. However, while the political elites negotiated a conservative transition to a democratic regime, social movements spread across the countryside and cities, supported by Catholic Liberation theology and left-wing militants who had abandoned the armed resistance. New labor leaders denounced the policy of wage adjustments that did not keep up with rate of inflation, which shifted the cost of economic policy failure onto workers’ shoulders. The best known of these union leaders would eventually become the most outstanding political leader in Brazilian history.

Luiz Inácio da Silva, known as “Lula,” has been the subject of countless academic studies since he emerged as a leader of the strikes in ABC Region, the metalworking belt of São Paulo, later creating the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) and becoming the only candidate elected three times to the presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil. André Pagliarini demonstrates, however, that the surprising story of the former metalworker, whose political death certificate has been signed many times by hasty commentators, continues to provide ample material for researchers. Lula: A People’s President and the Fight for Brazil’s Future is not a biographical work but rather a study that situates the current president’s trajectory within the Brazilian historical context.

The book is divided into seven chapters. The first provides an overview of the history of the Brazilian labor movement between the General Strike of 1917 and the emergence of Novo Sindicalismo (New Unionism) sixty years later. The following two chapters address the process of building the PT and its gradual consolidation as the country’s leading opposition force during the administrations of José Sarney, Fernando Collor de Mello, Itamar Franco, and Fernando Henrique Cardoso, including Lula’s three defeats in presidential races. Chapters 4 and 5 cover the PT’s four presidential terms, the last of which was cut short by the parliamentary coup against President Dilma Rousseff in 2016. The sixth chapter analyzes the subsequent rise of the far-right, culminating in Lula’s imprisonment as a result of the so-called Car Wash operation and in Jair Bolsonaro’s election in 2018. In the final chapter, the author focuses on Lula’s release after evidence of lawfare practices led to the annulment of the cases against him, and on his third presidential term, which he won in the 2022 elections.

Overall, Pagliarini succeeds in achieving his ambitious goals. The book reveals a strong capacity for synthesizing and selecting information. It brings together basic elements from different conjunctures spanning more than a century. The author demonstrates that he is an attentive reader of Brazilian labor history, which enriches his understanding of Lula’s leadership. His treatment of the PT’s experience in power under Lula and Dilma combines empathy with critical distance, offering a realistic perspective on advances and limitations, successes, and mistakes.

However, a project of this scope will inevitably contain some weaknesses. By briefly addressing a wide range of controversial topics from the history of a century in a continental, unequal, and complex country, Pagliarini certainly exposes himself to criticism from experts in many passages. One may also argue that the excessive focus on São Paulo weakens the treatment of some topics. The narrative, which flows exceptionally well overall, is truncated at specific points, with unnecessary back and forth in the chronology and repetition of facts in successive paragraphs. The author also occasionally makes factual errors. For example, the Italian company Fiat was not among the automakers located in the ABC Region, and Itamar Franco did not govern Minas Gerais before being chosen as Fernando Collor de Mello’s vice-presidential candidate.

These minor issues, which could easily be resolved in a second edition, in no way detract from Pagliarini’s contribution. The book is an excellent, up-to-date introduction to the career of a leader who, as the author points out, however remarkable his individual talents may be, emerged as an expression of the Brazilian people’s struggle for democracy and social justice.