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. | The Portuguese Empire 1415-1808 by A. J. R. Russell-wood, Paperback | Indigo Chapters