A. J. R. Russell-Wood

I'm not sorry to have finished this book - the author's convoluted writing style makes for a pretty tough, and frankly boring, read. For example:

"These took the form of word lists and grammars drawn up by religious, in which the Jesuits were to the fore but not alone, and laymen, and which constitute a base for historical linguistics of some peoples of Africa, Asia and America." Try 220 pages of that and see what I mean (copied exactly from p193.)

In addition, another problem is the lack of summarising and failure to sufficiently spell out key messages within the text. I tired of reading the endless stories about individuals or places that are all included to make the same point. I did learn from this book but I could not read more than 20 pages at once before getting awfully sleepy.… (lisätietoja)

In describing a subject as large as the Portuguese empire that extended over four continents and four centuries, an author must use an organizing and focusing construct in order to make sense and achieve coherence. Rather than examine a narrow period of time or specific colony, A.J.R. Russell-Wood ambi-tiously treats the Portuguese empire in its entirety. Russell-Wood argues that while a tightly-focused look may be richer in some details, it runs the risk of miss-ing the larger explanation which he believes can only be understood in the con-text of the empire as a whole. He supports his position with examples of events that, while seeming anomalous on the local level, make sense when seen from the perspective of the whole empire. Therefore, he presents his material with the concept of movement as its unifying theme. He makes clear from the beginning that strict adherence to chronology and geography is secondary to following trends of movement throughout the empire.
With its relatively small resources, Portugal managed to lead European exploration and colonization in the 1400s and well into the 1500s. Russell-Wood’s introductory chapter laments the lack of respect and recognition that Por-tuguese efforts receive compared to their Spanish cousins, noting that several famous explorers are known by their Hispanic names rather than the Portuguese version. After whining over his pet peeve, he examines causes and conditions that drove Portugal to push so vigorously beyond its borders. He writes, “The desire for knowledge about gold, Prester John, and spices, spurred Portuguese probings and more formal expeditions overland . . .â€? (p. 11). His second chapter provides a good overview of the methods of transportation that were used in various times and places. He also uses this chapter to discuss currents of the seas and winds; this adds weight to his argument for a wider perspective of un-derstanding.
In the third chapter, dealing with the movements of people, Russell-Wood truly hits his stride. He divides this large chapter into sections dealing with, inter alia, the Crown, Christ and Mammon. Throughout this section, he shows the pragmatic efforts of Portuguese soldiers, merchants, priests and settlers who managed to insinuate themselves into local structures of business and culture and who, more often than not, managed to make themselves useful if not essen-tial to the indigenous peoples. Portuguese traders and administrators married native women thus bridging the gap between cultures and establishing blood connections. Such networks based on blood and utility served to extend Portu-guese control beyond what could have reasonably been expected based on the limited human resources available. Whether this habit of ingratiating themselves to the locals and assimilating with native mores stemmed from preference or from making a virtue of necessity, the Portuguese managed to leverage this technique into an ongoing and successful enterprise for four centuries.
The final two chapters cover the Portuguese as disseminators of plants, animals and culture throughout their empire. Russell-Wood admits that the Por-tuguese were not necessarily the first or the most voluminous disseminators of plant and animal life, but, as continuing agents of trafficking in plant, animal and human cargo over multiple continents for many centuries, their contributions should not be dismissed readily. He points out that Portuguese is the third most widely spoken European language in the world and argues that this fact alone earns them a place of prominence.
As one only casually familiar with Lusitanian history, this reviewer found the book useful and informative. Although Russell-Wood occasionally gets bogged down in lists of merchants or colonial administrators, the book is mostly engaging and approachable. His position seems most vulnerable when he be-moans the lack of prestige and recognition of Portuguese achievements. It is then that Russell-Wood emerges as petulant and fussy. When he sticks to the story of the accomplishments of a small, sea-faring nation on the Atlantic rim, he is far more compelling.… (lisätietoja)