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Bottom of the pile
22
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
37/100Critics
7/100Scholars
Author:
Tom Gallagher
Publisher:
Hurst
Date:
September 1, 2020
Fifty years after his death, Portugal's Salazar remains a controversial and enigmatic figure, whose conservative and authoritarian legacy still divides opinion. This biography charts the highs and lows of Salazar's rule, from rescuing Portugal's finances and keeping his strategically-placed nation out of World War II to maintaining a police state while resisting the winds of change in Africa. It explores Salazar's long-running suspicion of and conflict with the United States, and how he kept Hitler and Mussolini at arm's length while persuading his fellow dictator Franco not to enter the war on their side.
What The Reviewers Say
[Salazar] was the lone 'benevolent autocrat' in a cohort that comprised Hitler, Mussolini, Franco and Stalin. So reckons Tom Gallagher in Salazar: The Dictator Who Refused to Die, a learned and lively biography of a man who governed Portugal for 36 years, running it 'very much like a punctilious head butler in charge of a sprawling country estate'.
What is a fascist?.
Gallagher insists that his biography is 'not an apologia', but his admiration for Salazar’s dedication and statecraft certainly shines through, and he tends to relativise the regime’s 'obviously repressive side'.
