Bibliograph

Visions of freedom, Havana, Washington, Pretoria and the struggle for southern Africa, 1976-1991, Piero Gleijeses

Type

Label

Visions of freedom, Havana, Washington, Pretoria and the struggle for southern Africa, 1976-1991, Piero Gleijeses

Language

eng

Index

no index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Visions of freedom

Medium

electronic resource

Nature of contents

dictionaries

Responsibility statement

Piero Gleijeses

Series statement

New Cold War history

Sub title

Havana, Washington, Pretoria and the struggle for southern Africa, 1976-1991

Summary

During the final fifteen years of the Cold War, southern Africa underwent a period of upheaval, with dramatic twists and turns in relations between the superpowers. Americans, Cubans, Soviets, and Africans fought over the future of Angola, where tens of thousands of Cuban soldiers were stationed, and over the decolonization of Namibia, Africa's last colony. Beyond lay the great prize: South Africa. Piero Gleijeses uses archival sources, particularly from the United States, South Africa, and the closed Cuban archives, to provide an unprecedented international history of this important theater of the late Cold War. These sources all point to one conclusion: by humiliating the United States and defying the Soviet Union, Fidel Castro changed the course of history in southern Africa. It was Cuba's victory in Angola in 1988 that forced Pretoria to set Namibia free and helped break the back of apartheid South Africa. In the words of Nelson Mandela, the Cubans "destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the white oppressor . . . [and] inspired the fighting masses of South Africa."

Target audience

adult

Classification