His first historiographical work was the História do Cerco do Porto (History of the Siege of Porto), published in 1846 when he was forty-four. The government had commissioned this work as part of the liberal power’s promotion of historical studies (Sérgio Campos Matos, Historiografia e Memória Nacional no Portugal do Século XIX, pp.491-493). Soriano puts himself in the place of someone who lives through the events from the inside as a member of the liberating army in the lowest rank of the military hierarchy alongside the ordinary soldiers. It is from this position that he analyzes and evaluates the civil war and the characters of the main protagonists. He nurtures a pet hate for some figures, in particular for Saldanha whom he accuses of being a “turncoat”. As for the leaders, Palmela is seen as “timid and weak” and D. Pedro as “inconstant and unstable”. The only person who deserves his unconditional admiration is Bernardo Sá Nogueira, the future Marquis of Sá da Bandeira. In a letter to Joaquim Martins de Carvalho dated 1881, the writer unburdens himself: “apart from the Marquis of Sá, I take to my grave not the smallest jot of consideration for any of our rulers, past or present, but only a pungent distaste” (in Brito Aranha, Op.Cit., p.218).

His later works can be divided into three types: (1) History - História da Guerra Civil (History of the Civil War) (1866-1890), História do Reinado de El-rei D. José e da Administração do Marquês de Pombal (History of the Reign of King D. José and of the Administration of the Marquis of Pombal) (1867), Vida do Marquês de Sá da Bandeira (Life of the Marquis of Sá da Bandeira) (1887-1888); (2) a political reflection essay - Utopias Desmascaradas do Sistema Liberal em Portugal (Utopias of the Liberal System in Portugal Unmasked) (1858); (3) a memoir essay - Revelações da Minha Vida e Memórias de Alguns Factos e Homens meus Contemporâneos (Revelations of My Life and Memoirs of Some Facts and Some of My Contemporaries) (1860).

The História da Guerra Civil was his biggest undertaking. According to Inocêncio (Dicionário Bibliográfico Português, t. VII, p.279), this was also written and “paid for by the government” through an annual subsidy of 600 mil reis. It comprises nineteen volumes, five of which are devoted to documents. Writing and publication stretched over many years - Soriano started it in 1866, one year before he retired, and finished it in 1890, one year before he died. During these twenty-four years, besides publishing a book about the reign of D. José in 1867, he also edited a biography of Sá da Bandeira in 1887-88, his last work.

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