- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Africa World Press (Mar 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1592210821
- ISBN-13: 978-1592210824
- Product Dimensions: 23.5 x 15.7 x 2.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
5,435,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #22 in Books > History > Countries & Regions > Africa > Western > Guinea-Bissau
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Given that not much literature (in English) is available regarding the great Amilcar Cabral, this book automatically deserves much credit and praise.
It tells, in astonishing detail and good-research, the life and times of a now very much forgotten African leader.
The book brilliantly discusses:
1. Amilcar Cabral as an outstanding academic in agriculture and in political thought.
2. Amilcar Cabral as a highly admirable person whose charisma, insistence on fairness, dialogue and forgiveness were not only admirable, but actually cost him his life.
3. Amilcar Cabral as a nationalist visionary whose political party, later guerrilla movement, was the only successful military take over of an African colonial territory: in other words, he didn't negotiate anything with the Portuguese (given their reluctance to do so) and so won the war of liberation and unilaterally declared independence.
4. Amilcar Cabral the clever diplomat: his chess-player intelligence and foresight made him respected on both sides of the Cold War spectrum, at the UN and even amongs the clandestine opposition in Portugal. Despite his war agains portuguese soldiers, most of whom forcefully conscripted, much of the Portuguese society felt sympathy towards his cause, as he insisted regularly that the struggle for freedom in Portuguese Guinea was one and the same as the aspiration for freedom in dictatorship Portugal.
However, one unfortunate element of the book is that, given the overwhelming positive impression we get from Amilcar Cabral, almost nothing is said about his personal life, aspects what although not decisive in his political legacy, would have nonetheless made for interesting reading. For instance, his divorce and second marriage is not even mentioned other than a few lines. The author Patrick Chabal can yet bring out a new edition of this book and delight us with more info!
It tells, in astonishing detail and good-research, the life and times of a now very much forgotten African leader.
The book brilliantly discusses:
1. Amilcar Cabral as an outstanding academic in agriculture and in political thought.
2. Amilcar Cabral as a highly admirable person whose charisma, insistence on fairness, dialogue and forgiveness were not only admirable, but actually cost him his life.
3. Amilcar Cabral as a nationalist visionary whose political party, later guerrilla movement, was the only successful military take over of an African colonial territory: in other words, he didn't negotiate anything with the Portuguese (given their reluctance to do so) and so won the war of liberation and unilaterally declared independence.
4. Amilcar Cabral the clever diplomat: his chess-player intelligence and foresight made him respected on both sides of the Cold War spectrum, at the UN and even amongs the clandestine opposition in Portugal. Despite his war agains portuguese soldiers, most of whom forcefully conscripted, much of the Portuguese society felt sympathy towards his cause, as he insisted regularly that the struggle for freedom in Portuguese Guinea was one and the same as the aspiration for freedom in dictatorship Portugal.
However, one unfortunate element of the book is that, given the overwhelming positive impression we get from Amilcar Cabral, almost nothing is said about his personal life, aspects what although not decisive in his political legacy, would have nonetheless made for interesting reading. For instance, his divorce and second marriage is not even mentioned other than a few lines. The author Patrick Chabal can yet bring out a new edition of this book and delight us with more info!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
A first rate political biography of Amilcar Cabral.
15 May 1998
Format:Hardcover
Patrick Chabal's Amilcar Cabral is a first-rate political biography of Amilcar Cabral. Indeed, this work is the most thorough, critical, and objective source of information and analysis of this important African democratic revolutionary that I have come across. Chabal tells a thorough and compelling story of Cabral and critically analyzes the development of his revolutionary philosophy and political skills within the context of colonial Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau. I highly recommend this work to anyone looking for a rigorous source on this important democratic philosopher and African revolutionary. Chabal also gives us a detailed contextual account of Cape Verde and "Portuguese Guinea," and the PAIGC (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) during Cabral's time.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
A Great Pan-African
2 Jun 2006
Format:Paperback
The book does an excellent job of enlightening readers about the life and achievements of Amilcar Cabral, one of Africa's finest liberation war fighters and leader and thinker. Below are some of the highlights in the book.
Amilcar Lopes Cabral was born in 1924. He was born in the Portuguese colony of Guinea (now Guinea Bissau). He received his education in Lisbon, Portugal and was an agronomic engineer. While studying in Lisbon, he founded student movements dedicated to African nationalism.
He returned home in the 1950s, and began forming independence movements on the continent. He was instrumental in the formation of the PAIGC (Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde, (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde). He also worked with Agostino Neto to form a liberation party in Angola, the Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).
From 1962, Cabral led the PAIGC in a war of liberation against the Portuguese imperial forces for the independence of Portuguese Guinea and Cape Verde. Over the course of the conflict, the party won land gains, and Cabral was made the de facto leader of large tracks of land in Guinea-Bissau. In 1972, Cabral began to form a People's Assembly in preparation for the country's independent. However, he was assassinated in Conakry in January 1973 before he could see his country's independence. He was assassinated at the hands of Portuguese agents in Conakry, capital of the Republic of Guinea, whose president is Sekou Toure.
The assassination of Amilcar Cabral brought no joy for the Portuguese Army as the guerrilla fighters intensified their struggle. In March 1973, the guerrillas acquired a new weapon namely Stella, ground-to-air missile which effectively neutralized the air superiority of the Portuguese Army. In September 24, in the forests of Madina do Boe, the PAIGC unilaterally declared the independence of Guinea-Bissau.
Cabral's is one of the greatest pan-African fighters to emerge from the continent. His military successes in Guinea inspired other liberation movements on the continent. He remains one of the greatest Pan African that the African continent has witnessed.
Amilcar Lopes Cabral was born in 1924. He was born in the Portuguese colony of Guinea (now Guinea Bissau). He received his education in Lisbon, Portugal and was an agronomic engineer. While studying in Lisbon, he founded student movements dedicated to African nationalism.
He returned home in the 1950s, and began forming independence movements on the continent. He was instrumental in the formation of the PAIGC (Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde, (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde). He also worked with Agostino Neto to form a liberation party in Angola, the Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).
From 1962, Cabral led the PAIGC in a war of liberation against the Portuguese imperial forces for the independence of Portuguese Guinea and Cape Verde. Over the course of the conflict, the party won land gains, and Cabral was made the de facto leader of large tracks of land in Guinea-Bissau. In 1972, Cabral began to form a People's Assembly in preparation for the country's independent. However, he was assassinated in Conakry in January 1973 before he could see his country's independence. He was assassinated at the hands of Portuguese agents in Conakry, capital of the Republic of Guinea, whose president is Sekou Toure.
The assassination of Amilcar Cabral brought no joy for the Portuguese Army as the guerrilla fighters intensified their struggle. In March 1973, the guerrillas acquired a new weapon namely Stella, ground-to-air missile which effectively neutralized the air superiority of the Portuguese Army. In September 24, in the forests of Madina do Boe, the PAIGC unilaterally declared the independence of Guinea-Bissau.
Cabral's is one of the greatest pan-African fighters to emerge from the continent. His military successes in Guinea inspired other liberation movements on the continent. He remains one of the greatest Pan African that the African continent has witnessed.
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