This short book, full of new ideas on political history, appeared under the stamp of the Companhia Editora do Minho [Minho Publishing Company] in Barcelos, a publisher that Damião Peres became associated with and later ended up running. What is more, this was the publishing house that would be responsible for the monumental undertaking he found himself involved in over the years, which was the publication in instalments of História de Portugal (History of Portugal), 1928-1937, with a Supplement wholly written by him in 1954, of which he was literary editor whilst Eleutério Cerdeira was the graphics editor. Many specialists collaborated on this work, beginning with his colleagues from the Porto Faculty of Letters, Newton de Macedo, Ângelo Ribeiro, Hernâni Cidade, Mendes Correia and Aarão de Lacerda. Also called upon to collaborate were authors such as Jaime Cortesão, Paulo Merêa, David Lopes, Lúcio de Azevedo, José Joaquim Nunes, Queirós Veloso, Vergílio Correia, Joaquim de Carvalho, Manuel de Oliveira Ramos, Manuel Lopes de Almeida, Armando Marques Guedes, Luís de Pina and others – in effect, the best of those in Portugal working within this still very incipient field of historical research and writing. Despite the imbalance inherent to a work with so many different co-authors – all with different backgrounds and different interests – the Barcelos História de Portugal was the first attempt to present the complete historical past of the patria [mother country] with any degree of notable quality. Furthermore, it introduced quite a few new ideas which ran their course in the following years. It was a work that became obligatory for all those who studied history – or those who merely wished to be informed - to consult. The publication, with seven volumes (plus an eighth volume of indexes), appeared with remarkable regularity, ending in 1935 in accordance with the original plan– an outstanding achievement.

These were also years of intense teaching activity for Damião Peres – in particular, his lectures on the History of the Discoveries and the History of Numismatics as well as many other courses: Introduction to History, History of Portugal, General History of Civilization, Epigraphy, Palaeography and Diplomatics, and the History of Religions. After having been Faculty Secretary, he was elected by his peers to become the Dean when Leonardo Coimbra’s mandate ended in 1926. Peres had been Coimbra’s Chief of Staff when he was Minister for Public Education (1925) and once again occupied the same position with the new Minister for Public Education, José Alfredo Mendes de Magalhães (1926-1928), the minister who would be responsible for closing down the Faculty of Letters in 1928. One highlight during this time though were the steps he took to acquire new premises for his Faculty (which he managed to do).

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