Download or read book The Portuguese Empire, 1415-1808 written by A. J. R. Russell-Wood and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 1998-07-31 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By approaching the history of the Portuguese empire thematically, historian A.J.R. Russell-Wood paints a broad portrait of the first and one of the greatest colonial empires--its birth, apotheosis, and decline. Russell-Wood shows unique insight into the diversity and balance between competing interests and priorities that characterized the Portuguese culture and its expansion, spanning four centuries's events on four different continents. 84 illustrations.