Manolo Garcia Florentino: histories of the atlantic slave trade and slavery as necessary connections for understanding Brazil and Africa

In homage to Manolo Garcia Florentino, this article briefly analyzes his historiographical contributions, focusing on the themes of the Atlantic slave trade and slavery in Brazil and Africa. It highlights that his approach to these issues has heuristic value in of itself, while also providing a basis for interpreting Brazil's past and present.. Florentino is part of a generation that witnessed the transition from essayistic interpretations of history to a consolidated professional historiography, which was important context for the innovations and impacts of his work. The novelties and intellectual legacy of Manolo Florentino turned Em costas negras into a classic of Brazilian and international historiography, and this article will carefully analyze that text, along with another, A paz das senzalas.