Product Description

An illustrated brief history of Portugal written for non-specialist foreign readers. Also included in the book is a historical gazetteer, short biographies, chronological tables and maps.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49788 in Books
• Published on: 1997-11-27
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: Portuguese
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 180 pages

Customer Reviews

A great little gem
This is an excellent book, brief, concise yet comprehensive. It covers the Portuguese history from its ancient roots to the present day. All presented in small chunks. Very user-friendly. It's a pleasure to read. I also like the maps, very informative and plenty of them. There are good photos too. At the end tables and other data complete the book. This is a gem. I am pleased I have come across this companion history and am delighted to recommend it to anyone interested in Portugal and its people past and present.

The history of a country in a nutshell
This history of Portugal contains a remarkable amount of information for such a small book, small enough to go into your pocket or handbag. It covers the pre-history of Portugal and the founding of the country in the 12th century and its history all the way to the end of the 20th century. I like this book because it is so informative, concise and readable. It also has lots of illustrations including very clear maps. Another aspect I like in this history is that it is very objective, no bias in favour or against the country. This is the best history of Portugal I know and I would recommend to anyone interested in this subject. Great value for money.

The best summary history of a country that I've read
As suggested by another reviewer, this book is a little gem. Set out in chronological order, It provides easily readable coverage of the most important aspects and events of Portugal's history, including limited coverage of the overseas empire.

What makes this stand apart from most 'Noddy's outing to the history of country X' books is the inclusion of 14 or 15 maps together with up to a page or so of explanatory text for each. These are really informative and could actually be read in isolation to get the basic gist of the history of the country since ancient times. There are plenty of photos too. On the down side, some of the legends etc on the maps are hard to read being of a very small font size.

I'd love to see historians of other countries adopt a similar format. Highly recommended.