The Prime Minister

The narrative reconstructs the political rise and administration of Sebastião José de Carvalho, a dominant minister whose reforms reshape Portugal amid the social turmoil that follows the great Lisbon earthquake. Using contemporary documents, memoirs, and public records, the account alternates historical explanation with dramatized episodes that detail statecraft, factional intrigues, conflicts with the Jesuit order, economic schemes such as a disputed wine company, and severe reprisals including imprisonments and executions. Personal letters and prison narratives give human perspective to victims, while the author probes tensions between reformist ambition, personal enrichment, and authoritarian measures.