A Brief History of Italy

A Brief History of Italy
Author: Jeremy Black
Publisher: Robinson
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2018-07-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1472140885

'Jeremy Black skilfully sketches social, cultural and political trends' - Christina Hardyment, Times audiobook of the week 'A remarkable mixture of cold history, wide culture and personal experience' Ciro Paoletti, Secretary General of the Italian Commission of Military History Despite the Roman Empire's famous 500-year reign over Europe, parts of Africa and the Middle East, Italy does not have the same long national history as states such as France or England. Divided for much of its history, Italy's regions have been, at various times, parts of bigger, often antagonistic empires, notably those of Spain and Austria. In addition, its challenging and varied terrain made consolidation of political control all the more difficult. This concise history covers, in very readable fashion, the formative events in Italy's past from the rise of Rome, through a unified country in thrall to fascism in the first half of the twentieth century right up to today. The birthplace of the Renaissance and the place where the Baroque was born, Italy has always been a hotbed of culture. Within modern Italy country there is fierce regional pride in the cultures and identities that mark out Tuscany, Rome, Sicily and Venice to name just a few of Italy's many famous regions. Jeremy Black draws on the diaries, memoirs and letters of historic travellers to Italy to gain insight into the passions of its people, first chronologically then regionally. In telling Italy's story, Black examines what it is that has given Italians such cultural clout - from food and drink, music and fashion, to art and architecture - and explores the causes and effects of political events, and the divisions that still exist today.

Portugal

Portugal
Author: José H. Saraiva
Publisher: Carcanet Press
Total Pages: 278
Release: 1997
Genre: History
ISBN:

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.

A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire

A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire
Author: Anthony R. Disney
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 387
Release: 2009-04-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 0521843189

A comprehensive overview and reinterpretation of Portugal's formation and history up to 1807 and of its wide-flung maritime empire.

An Economic History of Portugal, 1143–2010

An Economic History of Portugal, 1143–2010
Author: Leonor Freire Costa
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 419
Release: 2016-05-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1107035546

A fascinating exploration of the evolution of the Portuguese economy over the course of eight centuries, from 1143 to 2010.

A Concise History of Portugal

A Concise History of Portugal
Author: David Birmingham
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2003-11-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780521830041

This concise, illustrated history of Portugal presents an introduction to the people and culture of the country and its search for economic modernization, political stability and international partnership. The first single-volume account of Portugal's history since the days of dictatorship and colonization, this updated second edition also covers the state of historical writing on Portugal at the turn of the millennium. First Edition Hb (1993): 0-521-43308-8 First Edition Pb (1993): 0-521-43880-2 David Birmingham is a Professor of Modern History at the University of Kent, Canterbury. He has written extensively on Portugal and Africa including, among others, The Decolonization of Africa (UCL Press, 1995), History of Central Africa, Volume Three (Longman, 1998), and Portugal and Africa (Macmillan, 1999) and, more recently, a survey of Trade and Empire in the Atlantic, 1400-1600 (Routledge, 2000).

The History of the Siege of Lisbon

The History of the Siege of Lisbon
Author: José Saramago
Publisher: HMH
Total Pages: 323
Release: 1998-09-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0547540345

A proofreader realizes his power to edit the truth on a whim, in a “brilliantly original” novel by a Nobel Prize winner (Los Angeles Times Book Review). Raimundo Silva is a middle-aged, celibate clerk, proofing manuscripts for a respectable publishing house. Fluent in Portuguese, he has been assigned to work on a standard history of the country, and the twelfth-century king who laid siege to Lisbon. In a moment of subversive daring, Raimundo decides to change just one single word of text—a capricious revision that completely undoes the past. When discovered, his insolent disregard for facts appalls his employers—save for his new editor, Maria Sara. She suggests that Rainmundo take his transgressions even further. Through Rainmundo and Maria’s eyes, what transpires is an alternate view of history and a colorful reinvention of a debatable truth. It’s a serpentine journey through time where past and present converge, fact becomes myth, and fiction and reality blur—especially for Rainmundo and Maria themselves, who begin to find themselves erotically drawn to each other. “Walter Mitty has nothing on Raimundo Silva . . . this hypnotic tale is a great comic romp through history, language and the imagination.” —Publishers Weekly Translated by Giovanni Pontiero

Journey to Portugal

Journey to Portugal
Author: José Saramago
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 468
Release: 2002
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780156007139

Offers information about the history and culture of Portugal written by combining aspects of a novel, guide book, and travel log.

An Agrarian History of Portugal, 1000-2000

An Agrarian History of Portugal, 1000-2000
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2016-11-28
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9004311521

This book follows the renovation of European economic history towards a more unified interpretation of sources of growth and stagnation. To better understand the diversity of patterns of growth, we need to look beyond the study of the industrialization of the core economies, and explore the centuries before it occurred. Portuguese agriculture was hardly ever at the European productivity and technological forefront and the distance from it varied substantially across the second Millennium. Yet if we look at the periods of the Christian Reconquista, the recovery from the Black Death, the response to the globalization of the Renaissance, to the eighteenth century economic enlightenment, or to nineteenth century industrialization, we may conclude that agriculture in this country of the European periphery was often adaptive and dynamic. The fact that economic backwardness was not overcome by the end of the period is no longer the most relevant aspect of that story. Contributors are: Luciano Amaral, Amélia Branco, Dulce Freire, António Henriques, Pedro Lains, Susana Münch Miranda, Margarida Sobral Neto, Jaime Reis, Ana Maria Rodrigues, José Vicente Serrão and Ester G. Silva.