The Portuguese: A Modern History

When a friend recently asked, “Have you read that book about Portugal?”, it was telling that I immediately knew which book she had in mind.

The Portuguese: A Modern History by British born journalist Barry Hatton takes an informative and humorous look at this beautiful part of the world by blending historical analysis with highly entertaining personal anecdotes, based on his 35 years of living and working here as a journalist. It’s a book in which he shines a light on the country’s colourful past and the idiosyncrasies that make Portugal and the Portuguese unique.

Barry reflects on how, during the Age of Discovery it was Portugal that led Europe into the Atlantic and brought Asia and Europe together, and why it was unable to maintain its maritime dominance.  Barry also sets into context how the 1755 Lisbon earthquake not only devastated Portugal, but was one of Europe’s greatest natural disasters. Amongst many other fascinating aspects of Portugal’s history, he looks at how the Portuguese endured Europe’s longest dictatorship and why it still influences the Portugal of today. Barry also takes a candid look at Portugal’s relationship with Spain and with England, its oldest ally.

By Barry’s own admission he came to Portugal “on a wing and a prayer” after losing his job as a journalist in the UK when the newspaper he worked for went bankrupt. Barry saved £200 and purchased a one-way ticket to Lisbon leaving London on April Fool’s Day (deliberately chosen!) in 1986 with nothing but a tent and a smidgen of Spanish. As Barry said, “Sometimes it’s worth taking a leap into the dark”. Within a year he was working as a reporter for the AngloPortuguese News and since 1997 he’s been an Associated Press correspondent, covering political news, economics and sports in Portugal.

As for Barry’s motivation for writing The Portuguese: A Modern History, he explained that “Being a foreign correspondent in Portugal can be frustrating because there’s usually not a lot of interest abroad in what’s happening in this country. I had stored up lots of knowledge about Portugal and its people, but I had nowhere to put it. The only solution was to write a book”.

The Portuguese: A Modern History was first published in 2011 so I asked Barry how he would summarise the 10 years since its publication and his view is that, “We’ve pretty much seen more of the same. Over the centuries, certain traits have become established and things won’t change in just a decade. The younger generation however, have grown up in the EU and travelled more widely so have different levels of tolerance for certain less endearing characteristics. Social media also gives them a voice their parents never had”.

In Barry’s latest book, Queen of the Sea: A History of Lisbon, published November 2018, he describes our nation’s capital as “a great city for the flâneur - someone who just loves to stroll around and soak up the atmosphere. The main sights, such as the castle and the monuments in Belém are must-sees, but just sauntering around the old parts of town such as Alfama or Mouraria is akin to breathing in the city’s rich history. I had been thinking about writing a book for years and the tipping point came when, over the last decade, the city became so trendy”.

With the benefit of living here for 35 years, I asked what advice Barry would offer someone emigrating from the UK. “I think it’s a question of managing your expectations”, he said, “there’s no point moving to Portugal and expecting it to be like the UK. The Portuguese have their own way of doing things, which is sometimes delightful and at other times frustrating. Cultural differences need to be cherished”. 

It was a pleasure interviewing Barry, reading his book, and learning more about his life in Portugal. More information about Barry and his work is available via his Twitter feed at @hattonlisbon.

The Portuguese: A Modern History was published January 2011.

Queen of the Sea: A History of Lisbon was published November 2018.