Revisiting Hormuz ─ Portuguese Interactions in the Persian Gulf Region in the Early Modern Period

The island of Hormuz in the Persian/Arabian Gulf was once a colony of Portugal, used mainly as a military outpost and source of contact with India, Persia and China. This collection touches on several aspects of the occupation from 1507 - 1622. Couto (ecole des hautes etudes, Paris) and Loureiro (Centro de Historia de Alem-Mar, Lisbon) have selected papers from a 2007 Paris conference that cover the period in light of the politics of the regions: Persian, Portuguese and Ottoman. Articles discuss military and trade matters, the fortifications on Hormuz and the effects of this collision of cultures on all concerned. Two of the essays look at Hormuz through the eyes of Italian travelers and a British envoy/triple agent. Others discuss the transfer of Eastern art to the West and the use of Hormuz as a base of operations for Jesuit missionaries. Ten of the essays are in English with the remaining six in French. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)