Warriors at Work: How Guinea Was Really Set Free

Warriors at Work is Mustafah Dhada’s compelling account of Guinea’s struggle for independence from Portuguese rule. It is a balanced and extensive assessment of this struggle, giving a comprehensive and nonromantic reconstruction of Amilar Lopes Cabral, instigator of the revolutionary movement to set Guinea free. A Cape Verdian agronomist fully committed to nationalist unity in Luso-Africa and to the independence of Guinea, Cabral helped form the African Independence Party of Guinea Verde (PAIGC) (Partido Africano da Guine e Cabo). Through PAIGC’s efforts, a nationalist army was established, a guerilla war was launched, and a protracted drive for a nation-state mounted.

Warriors at Work addresses for the first time key questions regarding the fight to free Guinea: Was the PAIGC the only nationalist movement to emerge in Guinea? Was the mobilization drive and nationalist war a straightforward march to victory with the PAIGC calling the shots? Was the campaign for statehood instigated solely to forge a new social order?

Dhada cuts through revolutionary rhetoric to reveal a remarkable human drama fought at the front lines and beyond. He has woven a thorough, exciting, and precise analysis of a military and a political contest.