Portugal and Africa - Hardcover

Birmingham, D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312223196 ISBN 13: 9780312223199

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 1999

Synopsis

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 20th century on a tide of white migration. Settlers, however, brought racial conflict as well as economic modernization and Portuguese colonies went through spasms of violence which resembled those of Algeria and South Africa. Liberation eventually came but peoples of the old colonial cities clung tightly to their acquired traditions, eating Portuguese dishes, writing Portuguese poetry, and studying in Portuguese universities.

About this title

Review:

'Since the 1960s David Birmingham has been one of the most perceptive observers of the unfolding story of Portuguese-speaking Africa...It is very appropriate, therefore, that in the year in which he officially retires this collection of essays should appear to mark the climax of a distinguished career...All these essays are written with an overriding preoccupation to communicate and to present complicated stories in a way that the reader can appreciate and assimilate...The reader of this collection will be taken on a nostalgic journey back through three decades of Afircan historiography and through the turbulent times that Angola has faced since 1961...One can almost hear future generations of history professors telling their students - read Miller, Hilton, Heimer and Pélissier, oh, and see what David Birmingham has to say on the subject.' - Malyn Newitt, African History

'Since the 1960s David Birmingham has been one of the most perceptive observers of the unfolding story of Portuguese-speaking Africa...little classics, intelligent, witty, informed and always enlightening.' - Malyn Newitt, Journal of African History

About the Author:

DAVID BIRMINGHAM's career as an academic observer of Africa began in 1955 with a visit to the colonial 'Gold Coast' where he subsequently obtained a degree from the University of Ghana. In 1960 he studied Portuguese at the University of Coimbra in order to consult post-medieval, and later also modern archival records relating to the history of Africa. After teaching in several universities in western, central and eastern Africa, as well as at the School of Oriental and African Studies, the author went to Canterbury in 1980 to take up the post of Professor of Modern History at the University of Kent. Most of the dozen books he has published so far examine the interaction between the peoples of Africa and those of Europe both in the age of the great explorers and in the era of modern colonisation. His books have also explored the postcolonial legacy of empire in Africa, a theme which recurs in the present volume. He is the author of the Concise History of Portugal.

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0312223196
• ISBN 13: 9780312223199
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 211