Product Description: This history by celebrated Africanist David Birmingham begins in 1820 with the Portuguese attempt to create a third, African, empire after the virtual loss of Asia and America. In the nineteenth century the most valuable resource extracted from Angola was agricultural labor, first as privately owned slaves and later as conscript workers...read more

The late-medieval Portuguese who arrived in Africa were colonizers in the roman style, gold merchants on an imperial scale, conquistadores in the Hispanic tradition. Although their empire struggled to survive centuries of Dutch and English competition, it revived in the twentieth century on a tide of white migration. Settlers, however, brought racial conflict as well as economic modernisation and the Portuguese colonies went through spasms of violence which resembled those of Algeria and South Africa. Liberation eventually came but the peoples of the old colonial cities clung tightly to their acquired traditions, eating Portuguese dishes, writing Portuguese poetry and studying in Portuguese universities.

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"... useful, timely, and important... a good and informative book on the Lusophone countries, Portuguese colonialism, and postcolonial influences." —Phyllis Martin, Indiana University"This book, produced by the obvious—and distinguished—corps of country specialists... fills a real gap in both state-level and 'regional' (broadly defined) studies of contemporary Africa." —Norrie MacQueen, University of DundeeAlthough the five Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa that gained independence in 1974/75—Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, and São Tomé e Príncipe—differ from each other in many ways, they share a history of Portuguese rule going back to the 15th century, which has left a mark to this day. Patrick Chabal and his co-authors assess the nature of the Portuguese legacy, using a twofold approach. In Part I, three analytical, thematic chapters by Chabal examine what the five countries have in common and how they differ from the rest of Africa. In Part II, individual chapters by leading specialists, each devoted to a specific country, survey the histories of those countries since independence. The book places the postcolonial experience of the Lusophone countries within the context of their precolonial and colonial past and compares and contrasts their experience with that of non-Lusophone African states. The result is a comprehensive, readable, and up-to-date text and reference work on the evolution of postcolonial Portuguese-speaking Africa. (view table of contents)

Product Description: Trade and Empire in the Atlantic 1400-1600 provides an accessible and concise introduction to European expansion overseas during the early modern period. It explains why and how seafarers visited the Caribbean, South America and Africa, and looks at the history of the communities that lived around the ocean as they responded to the challenges and opportunities which sea trade opened for them...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

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Product Description: This is the third and final volume in the distinguished History of Central Africa, co-edited by David Birmingham and Phyllis M. Martin. An international team of experts examines the transformations that followed the end of colonial rule in the early 1960s...read more

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Product Description: The complete Cambridge History of Africa was intended to present the most comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis of historical development on the African continent. Central Africa to 1870: Zambezia, Zaïre and the South Atlantic consists of chapters written for the History by David Birmingham...read more

Product Description: The complete Cambridge History of Africa was intended to present the most comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis of historical development on the African continent. Central Africa to 1870: Zambezia, Zaïre and the South Atlantic consists of chapters written for the History by David Birmingham...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)