The author spent time in the field with nationalist guerrillas. He covers Angolan history before the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century to the Portuguese colonization and the transition from slavery to forced or "contract" labor, But the emphasis is on modern Angolan politics whose resistance to Portuguese authority began a century ago and culminated in a strong nationalist movement in the 1960's, as the reaction to a colonialism which created large areas of native poverty interspersed with patches of conspicuous wealth. The lessons of emergent countries in Latin America and elsewhere in Africa suggest to Davidson that the transition cannot be made within the capitalist framework. A sympathetic study of Angola offering responsible analysis of the problems confronting underdeveloped countries on the verge of liberation.
The author spent time in the field with nationalist guerrillas. He covers Angolan history before the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century to the Portuguese colonization and the transition from slavery to forced or "contract" labor, But the emphasis is on modern Angolan politics whose resistance to Portuguese authority began a century ago and culminated in a strong nationalist movement in the 1960's, as the reaction to a colonialism which created large areas of native poverty interspersed with patches of conspicuous wealth. The lessons of emergent countries in Latin America and elsewhere in Africa suggest to Davidson that the transition cannot be made within the capitalist framework. A sympathetic study of Angola offering responsible analysis of the problems confronting underdeveloped countries on the verge of liberation.
