"Backwards out of the big world" fits the trope of the travelogue; author writes of his/her travel around a region, introducing us to the characters they meet and the area they visit, intermixed with historical tidbits. Hyland does a very good job of this trope, introducing us to famous Portuguese and their Empire, and to the present to see what has become of the once most powerful nation on Earth.

While there is nothing too exceptional about "Backwards out of the big world", Hyland never loses your attention as he explores this little nation on the edge of Europe that once ran the biggest empire in the world. ( )