This paper analyses the complex relationships between translation and censorship in the case of the Portuguese translation of Race Relations in the Portuguese Colonial Empire, 1415-1825 (1963). The book, which is listed amongst the publications whose circulation in Portugal was forbidden during the Salazar/Caetano regime, was written by the British historian C. R. Boxer (1904-2000), a well-known Lusophile and a specialist in Portuguese studies. His works were widely read both in Portugal and in Brazil, where the first translation was published. The essay investigates the possible reasons why the censor decided to ban public access to C. R. Boxer’s book and reveals the complex series of circumstances in which the translation was undertaken and published.