Portugal of the Portuguese

In the wake of King Carlos's assassination in 1908, foreign journalists descended on Portugal like locusts, reducing a nation of poets and navigators to stereotypes of bombs and political intrigue. Aubrey F. G. Bell wrote this impassioned defense in 1915 to set the record straight. He argues that the "strident minority" of political extremists has unfairly tarred an entire people whose true character is lyrical, intellectual, and rooted in the glories of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Bell traces Portugal's identity through centuries of foreign influence and internal strife, insisting that the surface froth of political turmoil should never be mistaken for the sea beneath. This is a book written by someone who loves Portugal deeply and wants English-speaking readers to see beyond the sensational headlines. It offers an intimate portrait of Portuguese social structures, traditions, and cultural habits for anyone who believes a nation cannot be judged by its worst actors.