Jens R. Hentschke obtained his "Habilitation" ("livre-docê ncia") at Heidelberg University, Germany, and is Professor of Latin American History and Politics at the University of Newcastle, U.K. He is the author of "Estado Novo" (Saarbrü cken, 1996), "Positivism gaú cho-Style" (Berlin, 2004), and many articles and book chapters on 19th and 20th cc. Brazil.