‘Lisbon and Portugal’s best days are behind them’ is a common theme put forward by writers who focus their attention on the golden era of Portuguese discoveries, the Empire and the role of Lisbon as a major Atlantic power. Professor Lochery’s book demonstrates that Portugal is not suffering from such inevitable decline.
Out of the Shadows is a full account of post-authoritarian democratic Portugal (1974 to Present) following the Carnation Revolution which began on April 25th 1974 and based on documentary sources, personal accounts and unpublished documents from the National Archive in Kew.
In 1974 a dramatic overnight coup led to the fall of the ‘Estado Novo’ dictatorship in Portugal – in Lisbon the events became known as the Carnation Revolution. As the colonies collapsed, the United States helped airlift 13,000 refugees from Angola back to Portugal as US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger maneuvered to advance the moderate side of the government in Lisbon over the radicals and thus guarantee US interests.
As Neill Lochery argues, one of the major misunderstandings of the post-revolution era in Portugal has been the concentration on domestic over international factors in helping to shape its story. Having emerged from its twentieth century financial crisis and bail out and thus ‘out of the shadows’, he argues that Portugal is a country of huge relevance to the present day and of great future significance to the European continent. Indeed, the strengthening of bonds between Portugal and its European neighbors can be seen to be more important than ever, given the heightened tensions in European politics, the refugee crisis and the prospect of a changing European Union.
About the Author
Neill Lochery is a world-renowned authority on the politics and modern history of Europe and the Mediterranean Middle East. He is a professor of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Studies at University College London and the author of a dozen books including: Lisbon: War in the Shadows of the City of Light 1939-45 (Perseus), Brazil:The Fortunes of War and the Making of Modern Brazil and The Resistible Rise of Benjamin Netanyahu. He lives in London.
Book Details
- Title: Out of the Shadows: Portugal from Revolution to the Present Day
- Author: Neill Lochery
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Continuum
- Date of Publication: February 23, 2017
- Language: English
- Paperback: 384 pp.
- Digital file: 2124 KB
Source: Bloomsbury Continuum
