A Most Opulent Iliad explores a tale familiar to the modern reader: The meeting of cultures under the strain of invasion and occupation. Dr. Racine's book focuses on two main themes: The strategies and tools used by Portuguese occupation forces seeking to assert their control in Morocco (and how Moroccans resisted them) and how men and women from the various cultures and levels of society negotiated their political, economic, and personal relationships within the instability created by the Portuguese invasion.

As to the military and political aspects, this book chronicles the...