I am planing a trip to Portugal later this year but do not know much about the nation's past apart from the fact that it was, for a time, one of the world's great empires. I love traveling, and feel like having a solid grasp of a destination's history really enhances the experience (and helps one to more easily digest new things they learn during their trip).
I am looking for a book which gives a broad overview of Portuguese history while remaining quite academic - I only have a BA in history, but would prefer something dense and full of citations to a novel/travel guide/pop-history book.
Thanks in advance for your help (:
For the period until Napoleon age you should read A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Beginnings to 1807 Volume I and Volume II (2009) by Disney A.R. A great overview as well as introductory reading to Portuguese history. You can easily jump to chapters one is interested about. Volume I is chronological history of the mostly mainland Portugal, while Volume II goes into greater details about their colonial holdings.
Some time ago I also added some books about Portugal in the book list, but most are only about early modern period