This book is indebted to several individuals and institutions. The editors thank Roger Lee de Jesus for his helpful suggestions for the cover image, and Cláudia Viana for preparing the maps. They also thank their research centres: GHES- ISEG Lisbon School of Economics and Management, University of Lisbon, and CECS, University of Minho. A word of gratitude to the anonymous reviewers for their useful suggestions and comments, which helped to improve the book considerably. Finally, the editors are greatly indebted to Alessandra Giliberto, editorial assistant at Brill, and last but not least to George Bryan de Souza, editor of the collection, who paid close attention to the manuscript and generously helped to improve it.