Spawned in the upscale beachside neighborhoods of Rio De Janeiro in the late 1950s, the laid-back sound and culture of Bossa Nova ("New Wave") rode on a brief wave of optimism in Brazil: the country had just elected a new president, a five-year plan for prosperity had been laid out and the great architect Oscar Niemeyer had proposed his plans for the new modern city of Brasilia. Reflecting this optimism in its gentle and sunny soundworld, Bossa Nova quickly became a worldwide musical phenomenon.The book also comes complete with full accompanying text, essays and interviews on the historical, political and social context of this Brazilian music as well as features on all the important artists and musicians of the era such as Sergio Mendes, Tom Jobim, Jorge Ben, Elis Regina, Caetano Veloso and many more. As the first visual treatment of this now popular music, Bossa Nova Beat is both a pleasure and a revelation.

This is the first ever collection of bossa nova record cover artwork, featuring stunning modernist and revolutionary designs that reflect the radical and exciting idealism of Brazil at the start of the 1960s.

As Brazil developed into an urban society, with 'apartment living' and consumer goods, bossa nova projected an image that was modern,sophisticated and cool.

This era of moderniy and developmentalism was also heralded by the building of Brasilia, the new capital city built deep in the country's hinterland, designed by the radical modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer.

Bossa nova, the creation of Antanio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Joao Gilberto and a group of young singers and musicians in the Rio beach suburbs of Ipanema, Copacabana and Leblon became Brazil's biggest musical export in the 1960s.

But whilst bossa nova reached its musical height internationally in 1964, back in Brazil a coup d'etat announced the arrival of a vicious military dictatorship that would change Brazilian society and its music forever.

This book is a unique collection of the cover art of Brazilian bossa nova music, containing hundreds of amazing record sleeves that comes complete with full text featuring a political, social and cultural history of bossa nova as well as features and biographies on many of the artists involved in the movement.