The publication of the fourth volume of History of the Azores, by Azorean historian Carlos Melo Bento, is another example of “the existence of a people with self-consciousness on this side of the Atlantic,” stressed the Regional Secretariat for the Economy in Capelas this Tuesday, quoting the author’s words to describe the factors that had led him to collect the History of the Azores in book.
Vasco Cordeiro spoke on behalf of President of the Government during the launch of this new volume of History of the Azores from 1935 to 1974 and considered that this book “is not just addressed at those who, being Azorean by birth or by heart, wish to become better acquainted with the history of their homeland; it is also a moment of assertion” for the Azores. 
Vasco Cordeiro also congratulated the author for “contributing to the knowledge and dissemination of Azorean History.”
The new book constitutes the fourth volume of History of the Azores, developed by the author in a work that contains the comprehensive history of the region since its discovery and settlement until 1974.
Carlos Melo Bento is a lawyer and writer from Ponta Delgada whose intense civic and political activity was acknowledged with the Medal of Honour of the Bar Association.  He was also awarded with the Autonomy Commendation of Civic Merit.