This book offers a fascinating exploration of the evolution of the Portuguese economy over the course of eight centuries, from the foundation of the kingdom in 1143, when political boundaries began to take shape in the midst of the Christian Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula, and the formation of an empire, to the integration of the nation into the European Communities and the Economic and Monetary Union.

Through six chapters, the authors provide a vibrant history of Portugal’s past with a focus ranging from the medieval economy and the age of globalization, to war and recovery, the Atlantic economy, the rise of liberalism and patterns of convergence. The book provides a unique long-term perspective of change in a southern European country and its empire, which responds to the fundamental broader questions about when, how and why economies expand, stagnate or contract.

About the Authors

Maria Leonor Freire Costa has a degree in history from the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of Universidade Nova de Lisboa and a PhD in Economic and Social History (May 2001) by ISEG, Technical University of Lisbon. She is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences of the ISEG, Technical University of Lisbon.

Pedro Lains is a research professor at the Instituto de Ciências Sociais, University of Lisbon, and a visiting professor at Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics.

Susana Münch Miranda earned a BA in History from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, and an MA from the same university (1993). In 2007, she was granted a PhD (summa cum laude) in Portuguese Overseas History, for her dissertation on the fiscal system in Portuguese Asia in the 16th and 17th centuries. She has worked as lecturer at the History Department at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (1996-2014). Between 2008 and 2013, she did post-doctoral research for the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal). Between 2011 and 2013, she was a member of the Board of Directors of the Portuguese Association of Economic and Social History (Associação Portuguesa de História Económica e Social).

Book Details

• Title: An Economic History of Portugal 1143–2010
• Editor: Leonor Freire Costa, Pedro Lains, e Susana Münch Miranda
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Date of Publication: December 31, 2016
• Language: English
• Paperback: 417 pp.

Source: Cambridge University Press