History of Portugal: A Captivating Guide to Portuguese History from Ancient Times to the Present (European Countries) Paperback – January 25, 2022

Good information and concise history

Alert, this is a guide, a very brief and concise history of Portugal that can be read in a few hours. This book is great for the novice and even the historian will benefit from some points illustrated. The latter for instance is unaware that there was very strong Burgundian influence in the forming of the Portuguese and Spanish Kingdoms. This even in the face the first six Portuguese monarchs are referred to as the Burgundian Kings and many of the early monastic houses are Cistercian!I enjoyed the read but have some issues with the material presented. For example, The author seems to have neglected mentioning the military monastic orders military influence of the 12th century and the conversion of the order Knights Templar by Denis to the Order of Christ which propelled the kingdom into a world national power. Additionally, the description of the Battle of Aljubarrota between Joao I vs. Juan I of Spain is confusing. I have been to the battlefield many times and, “the Portuguese did not have the high ground.” The battlefield is on a small plateau and the English “long bow” was the deciding factor not the cross bow.I must say the author does a fairly good job explaining the monarchy over the course of Portuguese history. However, a chart with queens and heirs of all the monarchs would be very helpful. Maybe the work should be re-titled “The Political History of Portugal?“ Additionally, there are no maps to illustrate the national boundaries over the periods discussed nor any mention of The Inquisition that hampered Portuguese culture for over four hundred years.The book is very well constructed on fine quality paper with black and white photographs that follow the well constructed and edited text. The book has a table of contents, bibliography, but no index, and is structured into thirteen chapters that can be read easily in a few hours.

I enjoy history and I will be traveling to Portugal soon. Therefore, I was looking forward to reading about Portugal’s history. I found this book to be very dull. Heavy on who begat who. I was disappointed. I can’t put my finger on it but I just found the book to be boring and a chore to read.

Portugal, located in the Iberian Peninsula, has a rich history that dates to prehistoric times. The first settlers left unique art behind in the form of rock carvings and rock monoliths. These first peoples never left their country but were integrated into the many societies that came to Portugal over time. There were Phoenician traders, Romans, Germanic tribes, Muslims from North Africa, and Hispanic peoples. This mix of ethnicities resulted in a unique language and culture of the medieval Kingdom of Portugal, and one might even say of the modern-day Portuguese Republic.Even though Portugal is probably best known for exploring the world during the Age of Discovery, the history of mainland Portugal is rarely described outside of the country. This is why the Age of Discovery is only briefly touched upon, as there are many other fascinating things to talk about instead that might be lesser known to readers. The 1755 earthquake was an important event in the history of Portugal. The transformation to democracy in 1975 was another significant event in its history. This book aims to familiarize English speakers with the events and personas that built the Portuguese kingdom, its overseas empire, and the state that Portugal is today. It is a well-written book.

I really enjoyed learning about Portugal's history from before Roman times to the present. It is a country that is well known but at the same time we don't know much about and how it can about and why is it separate from Spain. For a small country how did it come to have so many colonies? This book answers these and many other questions. I like learning about the history of places I don't know much about. If you do to, you will like this book.

This book is just what I was looking for. An easy read but has all the important facts (and there are a lot with the rich history of this country!). If you want to go more in depth with anything mentioned in the book, just browse the internet for locations, names or important historical events as obviously the book doesn't go into smallest details. I wanted more info about the colonies and thanks to the book, I knew what to look for in the web. I had to go back a few pages sometimes when I resumed reading after one day because the monarchy part can get confusing with all the kings and queens. All in all, definitely a must read and I can totally recommend this book.

I went to high school in Fall River, Massachusetts. Fall River and New Bedford are Portuguese (sp?) enclaves, and from the recent history of Portugal, dictated in this book, I can imagine several reasons for families to pickup and leave their roots for better pastures.Seems that Portugal has a tumultuous history, and it's people suffered each time a new king took the seat of government. A lot of intrigue. Also the inquisition, earthquakes, the black plague. All shaping the country we have today.Portugal also its good times, including two 'golden' ages. The most interesting thing was about the climate change in the 14th century and how it affect the entire continent of Europe.This book also took a long time to read, but there was a lot to tell. I hope to visit Portugal and also visit the Azures Islands, both on my bucket list..This book is an ARC.

This is self-published and totally not worth it. You can’t even find this guy’s info anywhere. He’s NOT a historian, no credentials whatsoever, and I don’t think the author an actual individual—no internet presence and not even an author’s name on the book itself. It’s trash history. Cheap, no footnotes, and totally confusing as written. It’s most certainly NOT “captivating”. And I’m an actual professional historian so I really object to this. Go for a better product, maybe Oxford short histories or anything with a legit author