Book reviews: Brazillionaires - The Godfathers of Modern Brazil

The stories of Brazil's multigenerational families are fascinating ones, and veteran reporter Cuadros' new book focuses on one particular story—Eike Batista. In 2012, Batista was, according to Forbes, the eighth wealthiest man in the world who made and lost a fortune in mining and oil and gas exploration. As Brazil's corruption crises unravelled over the last few years, Batista, together with a number of politicians and businessmen close to state oil giant Petrobras, lost it all. Cuadros spent six years in São Paulo writing for The New York Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, and Bloomberg. He exposes how this society full of fast cars and beach-front penthouses is being derailed by rampant corruption and endemic inequality. Cuadros mixes from biography to tabloid exposé to provide readers with a view of how Brazil has reached such a low.