’Nations prefer to live prosaically rather than to disappear in glory.’ back on the Portuguese revolution of April 1974 and what followed for over a year and a half, General Spinola’s words seem truer than when published in 1974. For an event that captured the world’s attention and held it for over a year, the revolution of the carnations has steadily faded in interest: the triumph of the moderate forces who led Portugal away from romantic and dangerous extremes is to blame. Kenneth Maxwell’s The Making of Portuguese Democracy is therefore ideally placed to become the standard English language text on the period covering 1974-6: well argued, elegantly written, and focusing on events throughout Portugal and its then colonies, it attempts to transform the 1974 revolution into the beginning of a wave of democratization that was to spread through Europe and South America. However, this very elegance inwriting and the confidence with which the book has been assembled have led the author to make some puzzling choices over which events and trends to focus on, leaving what are ultimately essentialquestions unanswered.