Edward Paice is a remarkably good guide to this world of turmoil and upheaval, navigating neatly between description and explanation. His eye for detail is strong — his depiction of the Lisbon of the early 18th century is a treat — but, the flip side, he can get bogged down in detail — I am not sure that a list of names of prominent Englishmen buried in the cemetery of Estrala adds anything to his story. The main lack, however, is the absence of the Portuguese perspective. Almost all the descriptions of the quake itself and its after-effects are taken from British residents or travellers. He tells us en passant that the Portuguese reports are considered worthless, but if so, one would like to know more about this seemingly astonishing fact.

Yet within these limits Paice has produced a very readable narrative of an event that has all but been forgotten, one that is both comprehensive and admirably measured.

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