Fraud, scandal, theft of royal funds, official graft, and cover-ups: these are the subjects of the 1612 expose written by Diogo do Couto in his Dialog of a Veteran Soldier. Couto revealed too much and as a result, this work had to wait more than 175 years until its first publication in 1790. This classic of overseas Portuguese history is a well-known source cited by historians of Portuguese Asia, yet it has remained beyond the reach of a larger audience until this translation--its first into any other language. Couto was never rewarded with any of the prized positions that viceroys and...