In 1969, Jean Roche, a historian with an interest in the Luso-Brazilian world, wrote a brief review of Le problème agraire... in the Bulletin Hispanique. Roche had previously defended a thesis on 19th-century Rio Grande do Sul, which was also reviewed by Frédéric Mauro. In his analysis of the rigorous and scholarly publication of petitions sent to the Agriculture Committee of the first liberal Cortes (1821–22 and 1822–23), one of the most valuable aspects of Silbert’s work, Roche emphasised their significance for understanding the main challenges facing the Portuguese rural world in the early 1820s. Roche also highlighted the comparative potential of these documents, situating the "Portuguese crisis" within the broader context of the "European revolution of 1820 and the peasant counter-revolution of the 19th century." Demonstrating notable insight, he further stressed the importance of the work for researchers in historical semantics and lexicography, writing: "We therefore have documents here that allow us to delimit semantic fields, to understand the relationship of words to each other and of words to institutions, structures, or mentalities" (review of Albert Silbert, Le problème agraire portugais... , Bulletin Hispanique , 1969, v. 71, Issue 1, p.416).

In terms of Portuguese reactions, the earliest text we identified dates from 1966. It is a lengthy interview with Albert Silbert conducted by journalist Carlos Veiga Pereira, who was exiled in Paris at the time. The interview was published in the Jornal de Letras e Artes [Journal of Letters and Arts] under the subtitle Duas teses na Sorbonne sobre História de Portugal [Two Theses at the Sorbonne on the History of Portugal.] In the piece, the journalist situates Silbert’s two theses alongside other significant studies by foreign scholars on Portugal and its empire, such as those by Marcel Bataillon, Léon Bourdon, Frédéric Mauro, and, in England, Charles Boxer. He also draws attention to the novelty of Silbert’s work within the Portuguese historiographical landscape. This novelty lay in Silbert’s focus on the problems of the rural world during a period largely neglected by contemporary historiography, which was "predominantly dominated by the discoveries and overseas expansion, almost always limited to (...) political events" (Interview with the Jornal de Letras e Artes , 7/9/1966). There was evident interest in the potential of these studies to support new approaches to the 1820 Revolution and the origins of liberalism—an indication of the fascination these themes and periods held, especially as they had been unequivocally excluded from university curricula under the Estado Novo [New State] regime. In the same interview, Albert Silbert once again spoke about the challenges he faced in Portuguese archives. He attributed these difficulties not only to poor organisation but also to the damage caused by the invasions and wars of the 19th century, as well as to what he described as "negligence or lamentable ignorance." Silbert also referred to the renewal of historical studies that he observed taking place in Portugal, which he linked directly or indirectly to Vitorino Magalhães Godinho and a small group of Portuguese historians influenced by his work: Borges de Macedo, Barradas de Carvalho, Joel Serrão, and Piteira Santos. Several of these historians contributed essential texts to the renowned Dicionário de História de Portugal [Dictionary of Portuguese History], coordinated by Joel Serrão (1963–71). This landmark publication, which for the first time brought together key contributions that reflected the renovation of Portuguese historiography mentioned by Silbert, is notable for Silbert’s absence as a collaborator.

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