Out of the Shadows: Portugal from Revolution to the Present Day

by Neill Lochery

"Lisbon and Portugal's best days are behind it" 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. Neill Lochery's book demonstrates that Portugal is not suffering from inevitable decline.

Out of the Shadows is a full account of post-authoritarian democratic Portugal following the revolution of April 1974. From the outset it was clear to the author that this was not simply going to be a book about Portugal. One of the major misunderstandings of the post-revolution era has been the over concentration on domestic over international factors in helping to shape its story. The United States regarded the Revolution as a strategic threat to its interests in Europe both in terms of losing Portugal to the Soviet Union and the potential domino effect of this on the rest of Southern and Western Europe. Having emerged from its financial crisis and bail out and thus "out of the shadows," this is a country of great relevance to Europe today.

Meticulously researched, based on documentary sources as well as personal accounts of witnesses to the events described, Out of the Shadows makes clear how significant Portugal has been and remains.

Genres: History, Portugal, Nonfiction

384 pages, Hardcover

First published June 13, 2017

About the author

Neill Lochery, PhD, is a world-renowned source on Israel, the Middle East, and Mediterranean history. He is the author of five books and countless newspaper and magazine articles. He regularly appears on television in the UK, the USA, and the Middle East. He is currently based at University College London and divides his time between London, Lisbon, and the Middle East.

Reviews

[Maria Espadinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Caminho da Luz


Vivido ou simplesmente recordado, o 25 de Abril deixou uma marca indelével na História de Portugal e em todos nós, portugueses.
Quem não se recorda da célebre revolução dos cravos que exorcizou o fascismo e inaugurou o trilho da democracia?!...
O espectacular golpe dos capitães de Abril que derrubou o governo de Salazar-Caetano e pôs Portugal em festa...
Porém, não muito tempo depois, a ressaca fez-se anunciar!!!
A descolonização caótica, as lutas partidárias, a reforma agrária, os saneamentos em massa, as reivindicações salariais irrealistas, .... precipitaram o país na bancarrota.
A disciplina fascista deu lugar ao caos generalizado!

Mas enfim, com a ajuda da Europa lá nos fomos recompondo e ao que parece, devagar, devagarinho, sem grandes pressas, lá vamos avançando no trilho da luz!...
Será que só um período equivalente, apagará na totalidade os resquícios de 48 anos de obscurantismo?
Se assim for, lá para 2022 já estamos finos ;)

"Portugal Saído das Sombras" é um livro que se ocupa de todo o percurso deste país, desde a queda do fascismo, até à atualidade.
Portugal é o nosso país - a nossa Casa Portuguesa, concerteza - e o seu percurso afecta-nos um por um!!
Uma leitura obrigatória! Recomenda-se :)

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glory days.

Christiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick today and became the six highest scoring futebolista, beating legendary Pele of Brazil. Yesterday the former president Cavaca Silva sounded like Donald Trump claiming the Portuguese media spouts out "Fake News". This summer, the forests of Portugal were razed by extreme heats and a large tree fell killing scores at a religious pilgrimage. It has been quite the summer for Portugal. And one can add Neill Lochery's latest book, "Out of the Shadows".

This is a "historical" reflection of the last forty years from the Carnation Revolution. On 24 April 1974, a short revolution overthrew Salazar's Estado Novo. In a matter of days, Portugal went from a dictatorship to a democracy. Change of course is not easy.

I told someone at work what I was reading. She rolled her eyes and said, "boring..." Truthfully this book was anything but boring. But maybe this is a reflection of myself. If you like politics and history, if you are keen to find out about Portugal's recent history and where it is at present, then you will like this book.

Lochery writes in a really easy to understand language. He uses a lot of state department material along diplomatic notes to bolster his facts. There are personal anecdotes and observations that keeps what could be boring stuff as an enjoyable read. In fact I read the book in four days. Enjoyable.

Now to be honest there are some things that seem rather odd or missing. First, there is a lot on the political elections, party issues and minutiae that sometimes gets in the way (the boring parts?). He uses most of this material to illustrate his history plus he tells side stories that made it interesting.

Second he does rely on British and U.S. diplomatic information almost to tell the story from a third party. In fact, Lochery is not Portuguese, so in a way, everything is told from a third person point of view. He even points out that he chose not to interview the Portuguese politicians. Maybe this is good; maybe bad. I guess that depends on what you get out of this.

Most of the action occurs in the big city Lisboa. Obviously from a political aspect this is understandable but I felt the countryside has been relegated to what he refers to being mostly undeveloped. Perhaps another book?

Lastly he points out the importance of culture in Portugal. The three "f's": futebol, fado and Fátima. Futebol, fado and religion get a good write-up but specific cultural aspects are few. The only writer mentioned is Jose Saramago (pointing out that most Portuguese have never read him) and the artist Paula Rego. Sadly I wish there was more but this is a book on history. Translation: politics.

Still I learned an awful lot about this country from this book. Both good and bad. Democracy is very present but their politics are a going concern. They went from the "dark" times under Salazar to almost collapsing under the weight of bankruptcy. They have a strong cultural component where most Europeans see it a a weekend getaway. They went from being the "poorest country" in Europe to a bright and vibrant Lisboa even though corruption still exists. They gave up their African colonies and joined the EU. A lot has happened in forty years. Lots to ponder.

Now I realize that I am reviewing this from a third person point of view as well. I have only been a tourist and god knows, I really enjoyed my time there. Perhaps I am a little biased but it seems like a small country that wants to be part of the global stage. Ha ha sounds like my country. They got caught up in chasing "big shiny things" and almost lost everything. Gosh, that could be a North American vice? Can you blame them....

I have had one Portuguese GR friend review this book and she felt this should be mandatory reading. Good to know. From my perspective it was a great read. Hopefully it was a fair view of its history. I would be the last one to know this.

A definite 4.5.

BTW I actually found a date error. He attributes Obama's inauguration to 20 January 1999 (p. 259). I believe should be 2009. Oops.

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been waiting for months for a biography in English or French about Salazar, Portugal's dictator from 1933-1973 (well, he died a few years before but his ill-fated successor continued a few years the same regime). I am still waiting, so in the meantime, I read this book about the Carnation Revolution on 25 April 1974 which over through the Estado Novo regime and replaced it with an increasingly democratic, constitutional system. The book starts with a chapter per year and then accelerates (several years per chapter) as we head into the 90's and 2000's. It is interesting to learn about Portuguese culture (based on the three f's: Football, Fado, and Fatima) and some Portuguese music as well. However, it lacks a bit of narrative in the reciting of endless economic figures and we don't always get a sense for the politicians such as Guterres or Soares who were so key in moving Portugal forward. I have a Portuguese friend here on GR whose parents witnessed parts of the revolution first hand and who could fill me in on some of the events described as she experienced them. That is perhaps what was missing here - a more personal account. I may be being a bit unfair because early in the book, Mr. Lochery does say that the book is based primarily on recently declassified diplomatic cables from the US but primarily the UK to tell its story. That being said, it is still a bit uneven - some chapters we get some of the living culture at the time and others we are just fed boring financial, economic numbers.

So, interesting, but that's about it.

[David Cavaco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recap about the economic and political challenges that Portugal has faced since it became a democracy to 2017. Problem with the book is that it feels like the author literally clipped newspaper articles about every election in the 40 plus years. The book could have been stronger if Mr. Lochery had interviews with ordinary Portuguese and their thoughts about the transition from empire to dictatorship to democracy. The photo collage contained in the book was great.

[Reza Amiri Praramadhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

40 years of Portugal history from the aftermath of April Revolution in 1974, which toppled the old totalitarian dictatorship of Estado Novo to the aftermath of Great Recession in 2014, in which Portugal was swept into. The book started quite slowly, with one chapter per year, and then gradually accelerate with few years in a chapter. Throughout the book, Portugal tried its best to find its new identity after the loss of its colonial possessions, its new obsessions in form of hosting numerous international summits and trying to put itself into the ‘rich club’ of european countries. The side attraction would be the numbers of political rivalry between Presidents and Prime Ministers, which could be turned into a script for Telenovela. Overall, a nice, quick-paced, history of Portugal, with Chapters named for the famous songs in respective decades.

[José Emanuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

São ainda escassas as investigações sobre como países europeus e de outros continentes reagiram à revolução de 1974 e à forma como olharam a evolução política, económica e social de Portugal. Neil Lochery procurou com este livro quebrar um pouco esse desconhecimento, oferecendo as reflexões da Grã-Bretanha e dos EUA. O resultado é uma análise certeira da maneira como os políticos portugueses procuraram desesperadamente a inserção do país no mercado europeu e na alta roda da diplomacia para esconderem os graves problemas estruturais da economia e as suas próprias fragilidades enquanto governantes. Por vezez a análise económica feita pelo autor torna-se demasiado fastidiosa, mas ao combinar essa análise com os acontecimentos politicos, sociais e culturais entre 1974 e 2015 a narrativa torna-se intereasante de acompanhar. Lê-se num sopro.

[Barksdale Penick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to learn a bit about recent history of Portugal, and this book does afford that. It reviews many of the issues that the country had faced since the Carnation Revolution of 1975. But it feels like a long newspaper article.. In the introduction the author notes the difficulties of writing a "contemporary history" and then goes on to showcase those limitations. Its just too early to write a deep history, but this surface treatment is not bad. But it isn't great either.

[Ricardo Rollo · Rating 4 out of 5]

O livro relata acontecimentos de 1974 até fins de 2014. Super interessante do início ao meio do livro. Classifico em 4 estrelas. Do meio ao fim do livro, a leitura começa a ficar sonolenta com muita estatística. Mesmo assim, recomendo a leitura, principalmente para os mais jovens que queiram ter uma noção dos acontecimentos da Revolução aos dias de hoje. O autor, Inglés, Prof Catedrático, demonstra grande interesse pelo País e tem escrito vários livros sobre a nossa história, o que é de louvar.

[CARLOS NEVES · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uma visão de um historiador inglês sobre o Portugal democrático desde 1974 até 2014. Escrito numa linguagem simples, é um livro que nos dá uma visão completa de todos os acontecimentos importantes deste período.

[Diogo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obra muito interessante para quem quer ter uma visão geral da história política de Portugal desde o 25 de Abril baseada em relatórios dos EUA e Reino Unido. Daría 5* caso tivesse uma opinião de mais países e, talvez, estudos de opinião.