S is for Samora: A Lexical Biography of the Mozambican Revolution (Columbia/Hurst)

In 1974, Samora Machel led FRELIMO, the Mozambican Liberation Front, to victory over the Portuguese colonial government. The following year, he became independent Mozambique's first president. But eleven years later, he was killed in a mysterious plane crash, and many have blamed his death on machinations by the South African government.

Drawing on stories, speeches, documents, and the memories of those who knew Machel well, this biography captures the many facets of a man Nelson Mandela once called "a true African revolutionary." Machel was trained as a nurse, but later became a consummate military strategist. He was a farmer's son who possessed the advanced diplomatic skills necessary to balance a relationship with China and the Soviet Union -- while winning over Western leaders such as Margaret Thatcher. Machel was a man of the people who at the same time found himself utterly alone. A dedicated seeker of peace, he never saw anything but war. This volume takes stock of the discourse on equality, liberty, and comradeship that motivated the liberation struggles of southern Africa in the 1960s and 1970s, in the face of a dominant, Cold War rhetoric.