Lisbon

War in the Shadows of the City of Light, 1939–1945

By: Neill Lochery

Narrated by: Robin Sachs

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Throughout the Second World War, Lisbon was at the very center of the world’s attention and was the only European city in which both the Allies and the Axis powers openly operated. Portugal was frantically trying to hold on to its self-proclaimed wartime neutrality but in reality was increasingly caught in the middle of the economic, and naval, wars between the Allies and the Nazis. The story is not, however, a conventional tale of World War II in that barely a shot was fired or a bomb dropped. Instead, it is a gripping tale of intrigue, betrayal, opportunism, and double-dealing, all of which took place in the Cidade da Luz and along its idyllic Atlantic coastline. It is the story of how a relatively poor European country not only survived the war physically intact but came out of it in 1945 much wealthier than it had been when war broke out in 1939. Portugal’s emergence as a prosperous European Union nation would be financed in part, it turns out, by a cache of Nazi gold.

During the war, Lisbon was a temporary home to much of Europe’s exiled royalty, over one million refugees seeking passage to the US, and to a host of spies, secret police, captains of industry, bankers, prominent Jews, writers and artists, escaped POWs, and black marketeers. An operations officer writing in 1944 described the daily scene at Lisbon’s airport as being like the movie Casablanca - times twenty.

In this riveting narrative, renowned historian Neill Lochery draws on his relationships with high-level Portuguese contacts, records recently uncovered from Portuguese secret police and banking archives, and other unpublished documents to offer a revelatory portrait of the war’s backstage.

©2011 Neill Lochery (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“As interested as history readers may be in the spying, the economic war over tungsten and Allied demands for an Azores base dominate this history. A productive archival sleuth, Lochery makes original contributions to the literature of neutrality in WWII." ( Booklist)

A remarkable period in the history of Lisbon

I was born in Lisbon and in my youth I still glimpsed the city and times the book refers to.

I felt transported to that epoch, such is the coherence of what I remember and know with the atmosphere recreated by the story and the narration.

I was unaware of some of the details of the planned occupation of the Azores and the gold trade but they certainly seem believable and in line with the known (to me) facts.

To the end the book abandons description and turns judgmental: it would have been a better book without that unnecessary twist.

Insight into WWII Spy Culture - Nuetral Country?

Who was your favorite character and why?

This was a fascinating book about a period of WWII that is not frequently covered. I really was able to get a good feel for what life was like in neutral Lisbon during that treacherous time. You are taken on a journey into the lives of European refugees seeking passage wandering through the pricey hotels to the various celebrities, spies and Nazi officers that occupy the casinos and restaurants. It’s an education of how all the earliest spy characters came into being, tracking both Ian Fleming and Graham Greene who were living there. There is also an interesting look into the balancing act that the Dictator Salazar had to perform between the alliance and the axis to serve Portuguese economic and national interests. The book portrays the dictator as a very shrewd and cool customer but does not go into the abuses that he is famous for. I would have loved to have learned more about why Portugal made the decisions it did and gotten a few more anecdotes into the adventures of some of these characters on the streets of Lisbon, but that just shows how much I enjoyed the book. Another helping please….

A neglected sideshow in World War II

As a sometime student of Spanish history and politics, I have been aware for some time that Antonio Salazar, although a dictator, was far different from Francisco Franco. And Portugal is, as Portuguese always remind us, very different to Spain. The background to this book is the fact that Portugal is Britain's oldest European ally going back hundreds of years, and that did not totally change during World War II, even though for domestic and geostrategic reasons Salazar had to balance his private (and his country's historic) preferences with evolving military realities. As one of the few neutral countries in Europe during the war, its capital Lisbon became a nest of intrigue and espionage. It was also the gathering place of those unfortunates who could escape Nazi occupied Europe to liase with one of the few air links to the United States. Parts of the book read like a noir thriller, a kind of Joseph von Sternberg film. I must congratulate the narrator. His pronunciation of continental Portuguese is perfect, and it is not an easy language for a foreigner to master. Quite possibly he was brought up in the country.

great book

What did you love best about Lisbon?

book is easy to listen to. very interesting in its narrative. It portrayed Mr Salazar in a very interesting light, certainly an immensely smart man that dealt with both warring sides with great diplomacy and tact and was able to keep Portugal safe. He describes in a very entertainng way the intricacies of the relationships taking place during the war,

Wolfram?

I won’t give away any other details on the book, but to begin, I had never heard of Wolfram. Where have I been? 🤷🏻‍♂️ I had to stop the book and look it up. At first I thought the narrator was saying “wolfem.” Not so! He was saying, “Wolfram.”
For those in the same sad state of ignorance as me, “Wolfram” is “Tungsten.” For everyone else, please move on to the next review. According to the bottomless source if irrefutable facts, “The Internet,” the word “Tungsten” is used primarily in the US and Great Britain.

Aside from having no idea what wolfram was, I thought it was an interesting book with good narration, with the Portuguese supply of “wolfram” during WWII to both the Nazis and the British being a point of contention.

There does not seem to be much out there on recent Portuguese history, so this was a good find. The book is about way more than wolfram, so give it a go!

great story but the writing could be better

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The writer presented this too much like what I remember history books I read in school. Although the story is great and compelling, it could have been written much better

What did you like best about this story?

learning the story and role of Lisbon during the war; we had visited it this fall

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

If they could learn from Casablanca [good intro but couldn't sustain it]

Excellent telling of unknown history

The history of Portugal has fee sources in English. This fills a gap of a fascinating period in world history. Lisbon served as a”neutral” haven for spies and diplomats along with fleeing refugees and war profiteers. Who knew? I didn’t but now I do. Well recommended.

Little known

I am a World War fan and thought I knew all about the first and second World Wars, that is until I read (heard) Lisbon. The story was fascinating. Portugal was lucky to escape the horrors of the 2nd world War, but could well have been entrapped into it. Its refusal to accept the fleeing Jews was indeed very sad and may have left a stigma on the nation. However a very good listen.

Not That Much Happened

This was short enough book that I made it to the end but the spies were bureaucrats and the spats were financial and diplomatic. I was hoping for more on MI6 personalities at least.

Expostiion of Little Known Story

I didn’t know much (well truthfully – nothing) about the role that Portugal played in the Second World War when I opened Lisbon: War in the Shadows of the City of Light, 1939-45. I found Neil Lochery’s book both engaging, informative, and entertaining. In this volume, Lochery (While Blame Israel 2011; View from the Fence 2006) tells the story of how dictator Antonio Salazar kept Portugal neutral in WWII and left his country relatively intact after the conflict. I found insights into how Salazar dealt with day-to-day management of the country intriguing. Anecdotes revealing how Salazar made decisions and implemented policies are particularly interesting. Certainly, Salazar was a gifted leader in this context. I would have appreciated more discussion of fascism in this context and how Salazar fit into that era. Perhaps Lochery has another book which will shed more light. At any rate, I was well rewarded by reading this book. The narration of Robin Sachs is excellent.