A People's History of Portugal

‘In the best traditions of “history from below”, Raquel Varela and Roberto della Santa restore two hundred years of class struggle in Portugal to where it belongs’ Andy Durgan, historian and author of Volunteers for the Revolution ‘A remarkable achievement – sweeping in scope, beautifully written, and politically alive on every page’ Yassamine Mather, Middle East Centre, University of Oxford ‘Forceful, vigorous, and passionate’ Ricardo Antunes, Professor of Sociology at University of Campinas A People’s History of Portugal reconstructs the last two hundred years of class struggle in Portugal. Raquel Varela and Roberto della Santa examine the material conditions of its people – examining the real causes of the revolutionary waves and counter-revolutionary backlash. Starting in the early nineteenth century, the theme of colonialism and its antithesis runs through the narrative, as working-class life was closely entwined with Portuguese colonial exploitation. Despite relatively slow industrial development, Portuguese people spearheaded a surprisingly vigorous radical culture of dissent, eventually sparking a social and political revolution in 1974.