Rodrigo Patto Sá Motta’s On Guard Against the Red Menace: Anti-Communism in Brazil explores the centrality of anti-communism in Brazilian political life between 1917 and 1964. Through a masterfully rich analysis, the book diligently knits together landmark moments while highlighting the ‘residual’ nature of the anti-communist imaginary throughout 20thcentury Brazilian history. The book sheds light on the structural nature of anti-communism and the ways in which it has shaped important political developments in the country. Its publication in English, based on the 2002 Portuguese version with a new afterword, is a much-welcomed contribution to studies on contemporary Brazil. Nearly twenty years after its original publication, its reading remains highly relevant and key to understanding the lasting influence of anti-communism on Brazilian political discourse.
Hatzikidi, Katerina. “Review: Sá Motta, Rodrigo Patto. On guard against the red menace: Anti-communism in Brazil, 1917-1964″, ‘Journal for Bazilian Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, 2021, pp. 442–444.