Of all the remarkable people who first opened up the rest of
the world to the Europeans Columbus, Magellan, Vasco da
Gama, Pizarro and Cortes Afonso de Albuquerque, governor
of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, was one of the most astonishing.
He was a commander of bold strategic conceptions, a far-sighted
administrator and in addition a talented writer, whose dispatches
to King Manuel contain a wealth of spontaneous narrative, description
and pungent comment.
Caesar of the East is a specially edited anthology, based
on the original Portuguese texts, of selections from these dispatches,
or Cartas, and from the Comentários (Commentaries)
written by Albuquerque's son, also called Afonso, about his father's
career, with new English translations of both. In the introduction
Dr Villiers evaluates the part that Albuquerque played in the
foundation of the Portuguese empire in Asia, and Dr Earle provides
a literary analysis of the contrasting styles of the Cartas
and the Comentários, where the father's informality
and spontaneity contrast fascinatingly with his son's carefully
contrived and highly literary narrative. Historical and geographical
notes help the reader to understand the text.
T.F. Earle is Director of Portuguese Studies at the
University of Oxford and the author of two books about another
great sixteenth century Portuguese, António Ferreira.
John Villiers, since gaining his doctorate in Portuguese
history at the University of Cambridge, has specialised in the
study of the Portuguese empire in the East and the maritime history
of Southeast Asia, on which he has published numerous books and
articles. He is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and a member
of the Council of the Hakluyt Society.
320 pp; 19 illus (1990) cl 487 2 $59.95 / £35; pb 488 0 Portuguese / English $32 / £17.50
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CONTENTS
Chapter I Ormuz Family tree |
SOME COMMENTS BY REVIEWERS
"Villiers and Earle have set out to establish
[...] the importance of Afonso de Albuquerque, the principal founder
of the Portuguese empire in the East. But they have done it in
an original and pioneering way, choosing to present the great
conquistadore through an anthology of writings by him and his
son. The result is a highly original and important book, of great
interest to a number of academic disciplines." Mariner's
Mirror
RELATED BOOKS
Other annotated parallel texts of Portuguese literature
include:
Fernão Lopes The English in Portugal 136787
Gil Vicente Three Discovery Plays
