On the reading of police sources

Abstract

This note is an extract from a book about the revolt of 18th January 1934, against the decrees which marked the end of free trade unionism. The book deals with some of the problems that were created by the manipulation of information by the police as contained in the Archive PIDE-DGS (Portuguese secret police), which was used in the research on the revolt, drawing attention to the fact that this information should be approached with a meticulously critical stance, for otherwise the student runs the risk of falling into primary traps.