Lula!

From the factory floor to the presidency: the extraordinary story of President Lula's fight to change Brazil

In October 2022, Lula was once again elected President of Brazil, replacing the far-right strongman Bolsonaro, sparking an insurrection, and exiling the fallen demagogue to the US. Lula won by promising to save the Amazon and to give power back to the Brazilian people. This has long been the dream of Latin American left-wing movements—many of which have ended in corruption, disaster and death.

Lula has survived at least three curtain calls. Imprisoned for corruption in the notorious 'Car Wash' scandal, voted out, bullied and beaten, Lula continues to draw huge crowds of workers wherever he goes. He speaks of revolution and comes from the streets of São Paulo, and yet he is enmeshed in hidden bank accounts and lobbying scandals.

This is the definitive biography of Lula and the history of modern Brazilian politics that gave rise to him. Richard Lapper ran the FT bureau on Latin America for two decades and lived in Brazil for many years. His previous biography of Bolsonaro was for many, the best book on the so-called Trump of the Tropics. Lapper's unparalleled reporting and access allows him to tell the full story—which encapsulates so much of why Latin America's left-wing movements both excite and fascinate us in the West.