Ocean State Libraries

The Nobel Prize–winning author explores his homeland in “this monumental work, a literary hybrid” of cultural history, literary nonfiction, and travelogue (Publishers Weekly).
 
In 1979, José Saramago decided to write a book called Journey to Portugal—and dedicated himself to obtaining the fullest meaning of his title. More than merely journeying in or through his native...

Lieutenant Richard Sharpe finds himself fighting the ruthless armies of Napoleon Bonaparte as they try to bring the whole of the Iberian Peninsula under their control. Napoleon is advancing fast through northern Portugal, and no one knows whether the small contingent of British troops stationed in Lisbon will stay to fight or sail back to England. Sharpe, however, does not have a choice: He and his squad of riflemen are on the lookout for the missing...

Describes the geography, wildlife, history, government, economy, religion, and culture of Portugal.

When Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain in 1519, he believed he could get to the Spice Islands by sailing west through or around the New World. He was right, but what he didn't know was that the treacherous voyage would take him three years and cost him his life. Black-and-white line drawings illustrate Magellan's life and voyage, with sidebars and a time line that enhance readers' understanding of the period.

The riveting story of Ferdinand Magellan's historic 60,000-mile ocean voyage-now updated with a new introduction commemorating the 500th anniversary of his journey. Ferdinand Magellan's daring circumnavigation of the globe in the sixteenth century was a three-year odyssey filled with sex, violence, and amazing adventure. Now in Over the Edge of the World, prize-winning biographer and journalist Laurence Bergreen entwines a variety of candid, firsthand...

"This concise, illustrated history of Portugal offers an introduction to the people and culture of the country, to its three empires in Asia, America and Africa, and to its search in Europe for economic modernisation, political stability and international partnership. After a short introduction to Portugal's two-thousand-year history before the restoration of 1640, the book studies the effects of the vast wealth mined from Brazil, of the growth of...

"First published in 1980, the City of Lisbon Prize-winning Raised from the Ground follows the changing fortunes of the Mau Tempo family-poor landless peasants not unlike Saramago's own grandparents. Set in Alentejo, a southern province of Portugal known for its vast agricultural estates, the novel charts the lives of the Mau Tempos as national and international events rumble on in the background-the coming of the republic in Portugual, the two World...

Discusses the travels of Vasco da Gama and other Portugese explorers who helped establish an extensive empire for their country.

When Catherine da Costa, a wealthy Manhattan matron, learns she has only a short time to live, she realizes that her family tree will die unless she passes on its legacy and traditions to her granddaughters. But Suzanne and Francesca, beautiful young women caught up in trendy causes and ambitious careers, have no interest in the past. Catherine almost despairs until one night she is visited by the ghost of her family's anscestor, an indomitable Renaissance...