For more than 20 years, any student or activist eager to know the works of Amílcar Cabral has had to struggle hard to find them. Despite being considered a leading political and historical figure of the African independence movement and an intellectual giant respected by thinkers and militants alike, Cabral disappeared from the bookshelves before the Internet age. This sad reality has now been repaired, at least in part, with the publication of the present volume by Unisa Press.

Amílcar Cabral's writings are essential for an understanding of the liberation struggle of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde. But his influence stretches beyond the two tiny territories in West Africa he helped liberate. From an early age, Cabral was the natural leader of a large movement fighting against Portuguese colonialism. His participation in the foundation and consolidation of many political institutions within the Portuguese colonies is well established. His participation in the southern movements and the pan-African movement is also legendary. A shrewd guerrilla tactician, Cabral was capable of a level of sophistication unmatched in contemporary African movements.

Cabral's contribution has been recognised in different ways. However, the most important recognition is still missing: a study of his singular contribution to African philosophy. This prospect is now taking root in a number of universities.

Amílcar Cabral was born in 1921 in Bafata, Guinea Bissau. His father Juvenal Cabral, a teacher, and his mother Iva Pinhel Évora, an independent small businesswoman, were Capeverdeans who migrated to Guinea Bissau in search of a better life. They left behind drought and despair, but they eventually returned to the islands, giving Amílcar a chance to begin his highly rewarding study. In 1944, at the time of the Second World War, Amílcar completed his secondary studies at St Vicente and was looking for ways of expressing love for his country, as manifested in various poems and cultural interventions.

In the autumn of 1945 he secured, with great difficulty, a fellowship to pursue his university studies in Lisbon: Cabral wanted to be an agricultural engineer. Apart from being a brilliant student, he was extremely active in the emerging nationalist movement for the liberation of the Portuguese colonies.