The story of the man who introduced football to Brazil.
Click here to read the introduction. (pdf)
Click here to read some reviews. (pdf)
Here's the blurb from the back of the book:
Pele, Garrincha, Carlos Alberto, Socrates, Rivelino, Ronaldo - all of them can trace their lineage to a young man, half-English, half-Scottish, who carried a football from Southampton to Sao Paulo and taught Brazil how to play the beautiful game.
In 1894, Charles Miller arrived in Brazil with a pair of boots, a book of rules and a football. When he reached Sao Paulo, he was shocked to discover that no-one knew how to play. So he marked out a pitch, gathered twenty young men, and divided them into two teams.
Today, Brazil is the greatest football-playing nation in the world, and Charles Miller has been forgotten. This is his story - a gripping narrative of one man's love of football and the clash between two very different cultures. A clash of discipline versus passion. The foxtrot versus the samba. The stiff upper lip versus swinging hips. Britain versus Brazil.
Josh Lacey uncovers the history of the British in Brazil. He shows the vital contribution that British engineers and entrepreneurs - and sportsmen - made to Brazil's history and identity. And he tells the profoundly moving story of a man who gave Brazil its greatest gift, but lost everything - his heart, his soul and even his wife - to that seductive country.
You can buy God is Brazilian from amazon or any good bookshop.