Before Brasilia offers an in-depth exploration of life in the captaincy of Goias during the late colonial and early national period of Brazilian history. Karasch effectively counters the decadence narrative that has dominated the historiography of Goias. She shifts the focus from the declining white elite to an expanding free population of color, basing her conclusions on sources previously unavailable to scholars that allow her to meaningfully analyze the impacts of geography and ethnography.

Karasch studies the progression of this society as it evolved from the slaving...