In 1807, to escape an invading Napoleonic army, the Portuguese Prince Regent and some 10,000 functionaries set sail for Brazil. Following the transfer of thecourt, Rio de Janeiro became a "tropical Versailles," a new world seat ofEuropean imperial power. In discourse and practice, residents and royalofficials in Rio set out to transform a colonial capital into a royal court andto redefine the bases for the political legitimacy of an empire and monarchycentered in America. With the capital of the Portuguese empire in Brazil for thenext thirteen years, an extraordinary inversion of political, economic, andcultural hierarchies that had governed colonial relations for centuries came topass. Schultz's penetrating study provides an engaging look at a unique andriveting historical episode.