A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire, Vol. 1: From Beginnings to 1807

A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire #1

by Anthony R. Disney

The Kingdom of Portugal was created as a by-product of the Christian Reconquest of Hispania. With no geographical raison d’être and no obvious political roots in its Roman, Germanic, or Islamic pasts, it for long remained a small, struggling realm on Europe’s outer fringe. Then, in the early fifteenth century, this unlikely springboard for Western expansion suddenly began to accumulate an empire of its own, eventually extending more than halfway around the globe. The History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire, drawing particularly on historical scholarship postdating the 1974 Portuguese Revolution, offers readers a comprehensive overview and reinterpretation of how all this happened – the first such account to appear in English for more than a generation. Volume I concerns the history of Portugal itself from pre-Roman times to the climactic French invasion of 1807, and Volume II traces the history of the Portuguese overseas empire.

Genres: History, Portugal, Nonfiction, European History, Historical

418 pages, Paperback

First published December 13, 2007

Reviews

[Lois · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was surprisingly detailed and interesting.
There was a bit of casual white supremacy in relation to colonialism that is common in these texts.
Otherwise I'd have given this 4 stars easily.

[Ollie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah, books like this can be hard to write. I would know (not really).

Disney does an impressive job here of creating an all-encompassing story of everything that was every technically Portuguese. The problem is how are you going to make such a scholarly book interesting? It's not that easy to do,and it shows. A lot of times Disney is stuck basically describing how people are living, what laws are in place, who is invading who, and who is in charge during all this. So of course, this makes it all hard to absorb.

The times this book does succeed is when an era of Portugal is described through a single person. The chapter about Pombal is a good example of that, as it sort of puts a motive and face to the events taking place.

Books like this serve a scholarly purpose. At times it's an interesting read, but it's hard for me to vindicate how half of this book is relevant in explain Portugal in a modern context.

[Sytse · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, this is one GIANT and detailed book. If you want a boring non-story told history of Portugal, you can't miss this one. It is build only on facts of other works, therefore lacks some folklore. Still a very, very good read and it has helped me immensly in my introductionary "Culture of Portugal" classes.

[Susu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Travelling to Lisbon taught me: Oooops - I do not know anything about Portuguese history in detail. This overview from the early beginnings up to modern times has changed that --- moving on to vol II

[Alves Vasconcellos]

Um panorama "conciso porém detalhado" da história de Portugal da pré-história à mudança da Família Real para o Brasil em sua fuga de Napoelão.

Ótimo para quem não conhece nada de Portugal além do que aprendeu nas aulas de história daqui do Brasil, já que fala de um pouco de tudo, contendo até o que para muita gente não seria relevante. É bom conhecer melhor o país que foi tão fundamental na formação do nosso. Pode servir bem de referência, e conta com uma boa lista de bibliografia consultada para quem quiser se imergir mais em algum período específico. Para mim, que queria saber por cima da história (quase) toda, foi ideal.

Acabou sendo melhor do que a leitura que tentei fazer de um livro propriamente português, já que este do Disney, sendo escrito por um estrangeiro para estrangeiros, dá tudo mais mastigadinho, enquanto me parece que os livros portugueses já presumem um conhecimento prévio para contextualizar a própria história.

[Leandro Almeida · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book about the history of continental Portugal since pre-history until Napoleonic Invasion.

[Alex Goldstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Сначала было интересно, quick overview о кельтах, римлянах, вестготах, арабах - на каждую эпоху по небольшой главе. Потом начались португальские короли, бесконечная череда разных Альфонсо и Джоао, со своими министрами из фамилий в четыре слова- в какой-то момент надоело, начал пролистывать.
Почему-то самое интересное - а именно эпоха великих географических открытий, Васко да Гама, завоевание Бразилии - описано вскользь. По-моему, даже не упомянут Генрих Мореплаватель. Возможно, дело в том, что есть вторая книжка этого же автора про историю заморских португальских владений - и там это, наверное, описано. Но без этой части, получается довольно скучная история маленькой захолустной страны на задворках Европы, которая с помощью удачных обстоятельств и союза с Англией смогла сохранить свою самостоятельность.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great choice for my first venture into Portuguese history—clear, concise and engaging. What I found most interesting: the royal family and succession, complexities of relationships with Spain, Great Britain, France, the Habsburgs, Jewish citizens, and the Catholic Church. It piques my interest in learning more about how, specifically, the Jewish and Muslim communities endured and/or integrated over time. Not knowing any of the history here, I found the ending to be quite cliffhanger. From what I can tell, volume 2 is not a sequel, but a look at the worldwide colonial pursuits during the same period of time… I hope I can find a good option to find out what happens after 1807.

[Nicholas Conlon · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5. I write this review feeling a little harsh because I didn’t realise there were 2 volumes and, to be honest, I was most interested in the Portuguese empire rather than purely on Portugal at home

I found parts of the book intersting, especially for an intro and context into Portuguese history (Conquerors by Roger Crowley very much whet my appetite for this), especially the Roman times and union / break off from Spain, but overall found it overly detailed and slow at times. Skimmed through large parts

[Conner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ordered this wanting a history of Portuguese exploration. Unfortunately I did not really read the description which makes it clear that this only covers domestic events and the sequel covers the overseas stuff. I frankly skimmed a lot and it was still pretty interesting but ultimately very much a text for academics and not the general public

[Andrés Pertierra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of dry, which is my fault for reading a manual cover to cover, and sometimes with what seem like questionable claims/sourcing (like the Black Death not being caused by the bubonic plague) but overall a helpful intro text to get an overview or Portuguese history pre-napoleonic invasion.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book manages to make the long and complex history of Portugal accessible to the uninformed reader in a digestible style, while maintaining scholarship. Amazing feat. Looking forward to Volume 2.

[Anjalica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Filled with lots of history love the timeline. Awesome read

[Carlo Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

well rounded and full in its history of Portugal. great for getting a full understanding of Portugal but without getting too in depth in any given era.

[Martin Smrz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite interesting and since our recent move to Portugal it is worth it to know the history of the country.

[Karen Hockemeyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good survey of the history. I wish each chapter had maps and images, art, portraits, architectural eexamples.

[Pedro · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book, somewhat misses some details but is very solid