POWERFUL FREQUENCIES, radio, state power, and the Cold War in Angola, 1931-2002

257pp., illus., paperback, Athens, 2019

“This is an outstanding book. Moorman, already the author of a superb and influential social history of Angolan music, writes the definitive work on Angolan radio during the colonial and post-independence periods. It not only unearths new knowledge about Angolan history, but places Angolan developments in the wider canvas of the Cold war. That Moorman has achieved this through a book that is elegantly written and compellingly argued are but two of its many qualities. This will be a must read not only to those focused on modern Africa, but to anyone interested in the workings of state propaganda and the global Cold War.” Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, University of Oxford

“Moorman’s incisive study argues that the medium of radio is central to the history of human actors, political movements, wars, as well as the struggle for and the exercise of power in southern Africa. Yet radio has not heretofore been an object of systematic analysis in connection to Angola. Following her groundbreaking Intonations, Moorman once again proves herself to be one of the leading scholars on this key southern African nation.” Fernando Arenas, author of Lusophone Africa: beyond independence

Marissa Moorman is Associate Professor of African History and Cinema and Media Studies at Indiana University. She is the author of Intonations: a social history of music and nation in Luanda, Angola, 1945 to recent times.