At its height in the first half of the seventeenth century, the Dutch West India Company controlled a scattered but sizeable portion of the western hemisphere, from present-day Albany, New York, to northeast Brazil. In 1647, the Dutch historian, theologian, and philosopher Caspar van Baerle created a landmark historical narrative, which he published in Latin.

Now, after more than 350 years, the definitive record of the brief period when the Dutch ruled Brazil is available in English for the first time. Included are rare historical descriptions of relations with the native population, the indigenous flora and fauna, the workings of the sugar economy, attitudes toward private property and religious pluralism, global intrigue involving the Spanish and Portuguese, and the development of the slave trade. The original illustrations and maps from van Baerle's volume--a number of which are reproduced here--were used by Europeans well into the nineteenth century.