Another Day of Life (Penguin Modern Classics) [Paperback]

Kapuscinski's reportage is uniquely engaging, often showing close similarity in style to the 'magical realism' (forgive the term!) of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In this, perhaps his best book and probably my favourite work of reportage, he describes life as a Polish foreign correspondent caught up in the last days of the Portuguese empire, in Angola in 1975. He describes the changes taking place as the Portuguese leave and Angola descends into the hell of civil war. He is not afraid (or is afraid, but still does it!) to risk his skin, travelling as a sole outside witness in hair-raising circumstances to report to the world. Kapuscinski shows a close bond to the people that he writes of - one of his great strengths - and a strong sense of humour. If you are interested in 20th century African history, and want more that a dry text, this is one of several books to read by Kapuscinski! There is no equivalent.

... "I read many of the dispatches sent from Luanda in those days. I admired the opulence of human fantasy." This is Ryszard Kapuscinski's biting assessment of the quality of reportage by so many of his fellow war correspondents. Kapuscinski made necessity into a virtue. He was a reporter for the Polish News Agency, which could not afford the lavish expense accounts that so many Westerner correspondents had, who all too often had the tendency to file their dispatches from the 5-star hotel in the capital, after talking with those who frequented the bars at these hotels. Kapuscinski was either lucky, or quite prescient, (or both) managing to be in the right place at the right time. He was in Iran for the fall of the Shah, which he described in Shah of Shahs (Penguin Classics) and in Ethiopia shortly after the fall of Haile Sellassie, which he described in The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat (Penguin Classics) This book which describes the very last days of Portuguese rule in Angola in 1975 may not have the same intensity of insights as the other two books, but still, it is excellent, and is the only view that we have of these last days.

Angola is rarely in the news (or of interest in the West, particularly since the end of the Cold War). It was mis-ruled by Portugal for three and a half centuries, and its principal export was slaves. This trade was so lucrative and prolific that the country is still under populated. After the downfall of the Salazar dictatorship in 1974, Portugal's new democratic leadership quickly agreed to grant the colonies their independence, which included Angola, where a guerilla war of liberation was being waged for numerous years. There were three principal liberation groups, the MPLA which was backed by the Soviet Union and Cuba, the FNLA, backed by the Western powers and Zaire, and the UNITA, backed by the Western powers and South Africa. The front was "everywhere" literally, whenever one band of these groups might collide.

Kapuscinski's first chapter describes Luanda during the final days, and the exodus of the Portuguese. (Most went to Brazil.) Among the many useful insights, the author mentions the poverty of the whites, unique among European colonies. There were white children begging in the streets, and his hotel maid was Portuguese. The author went to the "front," and in so doing took at least as many chances as Filkens, the NYT correspondent who wrote The Forever War: Dispatches from the War on Terror Kapuscinski memorably describes approaching checkpoints, manned (or more accurately, "kidded") by heavily armed boys. One never knew to which side was their allegiances, and the wrong greeting could literally mean death. Later he took the first re-supply convoy (that got through!) from Benguela to Pereira dEca, near the border with Namibia. Angola was a place where the proxy wars of the Cold War were waged, and Kapuscinski reports on the Cuban involvement, and broke the story of the South African invasion.

There is an excellent appendix chapter, entitled "ABC", which covers most of the salient facts about Angola, the Portuguese mis-rule, and the war of independence. In the end the author admits an exhaustion with the living conditions and the constant dangers, and telexes home for permission to return, which was granted. In the process, he made a significant incorrect assessment: "It is more or less clear what will happen, which is that the Angolans will win,..." When he said it would "take a while" I suspect that he underestimated the extent and length of the fighting between the forces of Holden Roberto and Savimbi, which would last through 2002. Today Angola is still notorious for the number of land mines that plague the country.

Overall, the book is "another day of life", of Kapuscinski, who has written an excellent account, almost certainly the best we will ever have, of the last days of Portuguese rule in Angola.

(Note: Review first published at Amazon, USA, on April 15, 2009)

This was the first book of Kapuscinski's I ever read(in about 1986)and I've been a huge fan ever since.Not the archetypal war junkie that western media outlets habitually send to Africa,Kapuscinski's humanity and gift for the arresting detail shine out in this book.Two highlights in a fantastic book are:
1-The passage describing roadblock etiquette.How vital it is to know the difference between "camarada"(comrade) and "irmao"(brother).Saying the wrong word at the wrong roadblock means instant death.
2-When he hears a radio broadcast saying that the MPLA are a bunch of communist stooges,lackeys to their Soviet masters,and that any communists would be hunted down.At this point in time,Kapuscinski is,as far as he knows,the only citizen of a socialist country anywhere in Angola.a terrifying moment which he puts across very well.
If only Kapuscinski knew that the war between the MPLA and it's enemies would go on for almost another 30 years.Fantastic journalism,and a good primer on the roots of Angola's post-independence nightmare.