Empires and Explorations interweaves nineteenth-century Brazilian history, the extraordinary life of Richard Francis Burton, and the use of travel writing by historians. Burton witnessed the origins of the early processes of nation-building in Brazil, including the power and influence of Great Britain on the Brazilian monarchy that had declared its independence in the 1820s. A seasoned explorer of South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas, Burton provided a panoramic view of Brazil, highlighting the obstacles created by region, race, class, religion, and culture and offered advice on how to build a nation from the perspective of an iconoclastic Victorian Englishman. Marshall C. Eakin follows Burton's path and reflects on how the landscape, character, and identity of Brazil have evolved.