The new collection to be published on the History of Portugal in 25 volumes, directed by historian Rui Tavares, has the particularity of being published in reverse order, from now to backwards, telling the History over time while also providing readers with a new interpretation of the way history is made and enhancing the understanding of the scarcity of sources the longer the chronological retreat.

Besides telling History in this “unique retrospective”, according to the collection’s editor, “each book focuses on a turning point in the history of Portugal or a significant year, a year that allows us to take a new look at the times”. Thus, in Portugal, a retrospective, the History of Portugal culminates in the Middle Ages before then arriving back in the 5th century.

Maria de Lurdes Rosa, lecturer and integrated member of the Institute of Medieval Studies (IEM), the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, NOVA University and lead researcher on the ERC VINCULUM project, was invited by the editor to work on the volume dedicated to 1385, and also assisted in the preparation of two other volumes on the medieval period, 1179 and 1290, which were subsequently produced with the direct collaboration of Miguel Gomes Martins and Mário Farelo.

Other IEM members also pooled efforts to produce these volumes: Giulia Rossi Vairo, Iria Gonçalves, Joana Ramôa Melo, and Tiago Faria, as well as Portuguese and Brazilian researchers from various institutions, in particular: António Castro Henriques, Judite Freitas, Filomena Coelho, Leandro Rust, Manuel Pedro Ferreira, Maria do Rosário Morujão and Saul António Gomes.

The challenge initially launched by Rui Tavares to the newspaper PÚBLICO and the editor Tinta da China, with the support of the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation, made possible this original project to be published in 25 unpublished and exclusive books by a generation of historians applying contemporary methodological and scientific visions.