⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ a breath of fresh air for a non-factual reader

What an amazing book, well written for those who do not want to be bogged down with complicated facts... l never realised we had such strong ties with Portugal, that we sent an army to help them and an English man who went there at 17 eventually set up a glass works and made all the glass for the houses in Lisbon after the great fire.

If you have never brought a historical book before buy this one, you will be enchanted.

Amazon Customer

Entertaining the Braganzas: When Queen Maria of Portugal visited William Stephens in 1788 by Jenifer Roberts describes this event in great detail. In addition, the book also spends some time describing the lives of both Maria and William. I was a bit apprehensive about the book but I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of background information and it is not quite as boring as the title might suggest. It is very well researched and deserves more attention than it has gotten so far!

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A History of Royal Women

This history restores full human dimensions to two figures contrasting figures. Queen Maria 1 of Portugal, remembered, if at all, for her piety and for going mad and William Stephens an obscure British merchant who amassed a fortune in Portugal. Both these figures were warmly loved during their lives. Queen Maria, sandwiched between the church and the legacy of the extraordinary and Machiavellian Marquis de Pombal, tried so hard to rule with justice and charity. William Stephens built up a glass industry and created a community in rural Portugal where the workers well-being was paramount – he recovered wasteland, cultivated vegetables, raised cattle, provided health-care and tuition on musical instruments. The workers put on concerts and plays, including Shakespeare, for their own entertainment. The paths of these two figures crossed in a rare carefree period for Maria and a triumphant success for William and his workers.

Jenifer Roberts writes with historical accuracy and lively, entertaining detail and great illustrations. Portugal in the Eighteenth Century really comes to life.

Amazon Customer

This history restores full human dimensions to two figures contrasting figures. Queen Maria 1 of Portugal, remembered, if at all, for her piety and for going mad and William Stephens an obscure British merchant who amassed a fortune in Portugal. Both these figures were warmly loved during their lives. Queen Maria, sandwiched between the church and the legacy of the extraordinary and Machiavellian Marquis de Pombal, tried so hard to rule with justice and charity. William Stephens built up a glass industry and created a community in rural Portugal where the workers well-being was paramount – he recovered wasteland, cultivated vegetables, raised cattle, provided health-care and tuition on musical instruments. The workers put on concerts and plays, including Shakespeare, for their own entertainment. The paths of these two figures crossed in a rare carefree period for Maria and a triumphant success for William and his workers.

Jenifer Roberts writes with historical accuracy and lively, entertaining detail and great illustrations. Portugal in the Eighteenth Century really comes to life.

Amazon Customer

The Queen and the glass maker

This book is excellent in detail and allows the reader to make their own judgement of how the Braganzas treated the population in general in what was still in effect, a semi feudal society, albeit within an emerging glass industry.

Wiltshire Gazette and Herald/Wiltshire Times (14/12/18)