AMILCAR CABRAL, the life of a reluctant nationalist

266pp., illus., maps, paperback, First SA Edition, Johannesburg, 2022

First published in the UK in 2021.

Bissau-Guinean revolutionary Amílcar Cabral founded the PAIGC in 1960 to fight for the independence of Portuguese Guinea and Cape Verde. From 1963 to 1973, when he was assassinated by militants from his own party, Cabral led the guerilla war against the Portuguese government.

In April 1974 the Carnation Revolution coup in Portugal led to a cease-fire and eventually to the independence of Portugal's former colonies in Africa. Guinea-Bissau was granted full independence on 10 September 1974

"On the basis of newly available archival sources, Tomás provides a powerful, highly original and much-needed rethinking of Cabral’s enduring impact while also engaging with contemporary debates on identity, belonging and the role of ideas in African politics, and transcending the all-too-frequent hagiography that surrounds his legacy." Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, Professor of the International Politics of Africa, University of Oxford

"A very refreshing, at times moving, biography of Amílcar Cabral. The book distinguishes Cabral from other renowned anti-colonial leaders and thinkers, deftly handling the dilemmas, tensions and ambiguities of the struggles of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde for independence from Portugal and unpicking the sad narrative behind his killing." Christopher Cramer, Professor of the Political Economy of Development, SOAS, University of London

António Tomás is Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Architecture at the University of Johannesburg. He has worked as a journalist in Angola and Portugal.