---
product_id: 13309112
title: "Portugal's Guerrilla Wars in Africa: Lisbon's Three Wars in Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea 1961-74 Hardcover – December 19, 2013"
brand: "al j venter"
price: "$807"
currency: NZD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 9
url: https://www.desertcart.nz/products/13309112-portugals-guerrilla-wars-in-africa-lisbons-three-wars-in-angola
store_origin: NZ
region: New Zealand
---

# Portugal's Guerrilla Wars in Africa: Lisbon's Three Wars in Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea 1961-74 Hardcover – December 19, 2013

**Brand:** al j venter
**Price:** $807
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Portugal's Guerrilla Wars in Africa: Lisbon's Three Wars in Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea 1961-74 Hardcover – December 19, 2013 by al j venter
- **How much does it cost?** $807 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.nz](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/13309112-portugals-guerrilla-wars-in-africa-lisbons-three-wars-in-angola)

## Best For

- al j venter enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted al j venter brand quality
- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

Full description not available

## Images

![Portugal's Guerrilla Wars in Africa: Lisbon's Three Wars in Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea 1961-74 Hardcover – December 19, 2013 - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/IMAGERENDERING_521856-T2/images/I/61Y-zYSV7qL.jpg)
![Portugal's Guerrilla Wars in Africa: Lisbon's Three Wars in Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea 1961-74 Hardcover – December 19, 2013 - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/IMAGERENDERING_521856-T2/images/I/51zeG5sDzeL.jpg)
![Portugal's Guerrilla Wars in Africa: Lisbon's Three Wars in Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea 1961-74 Hardcover – December 19, 2013 - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/IMAGERENDERING_521856-T2/images/I/416KQIbG7aL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Cold War creeping into dying Colonialism
  

*by S***I on Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2016*

It’s hard to grasp that Portugal had African colonies up to the 1970s, when pretty much the entire world had left the Colonial bandwagon and was more preoccupied with the Cold War. While the eyes of the world were on Vietnam, Portugal, one of the poorest countries in Europe, was waging three different wars at the same time: in Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea (today’s Guinea-Bissau).The book Portugal’s Guerrilla Wars in Africa meticulously analyzes the period. South-African journalist Al Venter is a veteran war correspondent in Africa and the Middle East, and witnessed first hand Portugal’s fight against it’s former colonies. The book has a very good combination of factual research and the author’s own perspective on the conflicts. That was essential for the understanding of someone like me, who knew squat about it. The book also comes with several photographs and maps that help a layman make sense of the conflict.“It is difficult to tell a man’s age in the bush: a 13-year-old often looks 18 or older and it was no secret that many of those captured were barely 14 or 15, all of them armed. It was the same in old Stanleyville (today Kisangani) in the Congo: some of the worst brutalities were perpetrated by children not yet into their teens.”It is a conflict in a different scale than Vietnam. Helicopters and bombings were rare, as were direct confrontations. The norm were cat and mouse skirmishes, of slow and constant attrition. More than all, those were wars of wills. The books defends that the Portuguese pride, that wanted to keep a self-image of a colonizing powerhouse, kept Portugal for decades stuck in a war it couldn’t win. There was a crucial imbalance of determination between the colonies and Portugal.The book describes several atrocities, perpetrated both by the government and the revolutionary groups. The first traces of distress date back to 1961, when Angolan peasants revolted because they had to sell their cotton by a price fixed by Portugal, a lot lower than the international market price. The Portuguese commanders simply bombed dozens of villages with napalm, killing 7 thousand locals.“During bush operations, everything in their path would be destroyed; livestock slaughtered, crops and villages burnt, the local people rounded up for questioning and anyone acting in a suspicious manner arrested and hauled back to base. Tribesmen who attempted to escape this treatment were regarded as “fleeing terrorists”, and shot. The death would then be formally listed as a “terrorist kill”.”Most of the Portuguese soldiers, young and poor, felt like they were dragged into a meaningless conflict and did the minimum necessary until their campaign was over. It is sad to see how, like in any conflict, the local population suffered the hardest blows. They were pushed both by the government and revolutionaries. It is very interesting how the book explains the guerrilla’s backgrounds, many insurgents were trained in China and incorporated tactics by Mao Tse Tung and Che Guevara in the African context, like using propaganda and mobility. It’s the beginning of the Cold War creeping into dying Colonialism.It is also sad to know how these revolutions would end up after Portugal packed away from Africa. The former colonies were taken by even bloodier conflicts, that echo to this day in the continent because of the arbitrary divisions set up by the European nations.Portugal’s Guerrilla Wars in Africa is at the same time an informative and personal book about an obscure period of our recent history.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Unknown history that few Americans ever read about.
  

*by R***Y on Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2014*

This book was a treasure trove of facts and information about a war that the US press covered very minutely if at all. In fact only when the Carnation Revolution came to pass did most Americans realize that Portugal had been fighting 3 Vietnams at one time, and with somewhat better success than the US did. Shame that American political leaders never read books like this, or have advisors who do rather than make policy decisions on partisan politics. This book really details these conflicts and Mr. Venter had the luck to have visited some of the theaters of operation and came back to tell the tale.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A good review of Portugal's post-1960 wars in Africa
  

*by N***N on Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2015*

A good review of Portugal's post-1960 wars in Africa, the difficulties they Portuguese faced and how they tried to solve them. Venter is a journalist rather than a historian or academic, which adds flavour to many of the events and people with which he interacted but does detract occasionally from lesser attention being paid to events with which he was not privy.

---

## Why Shop on Desertcart?

- 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016
- 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories
- 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price
- 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members)
- 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection
- ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews

**Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.nz/products/13309112-portugals-guerrilla-wars-in-africa-lisbons-three-wars-in-angola](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/13309112-portugals-guerrilla-wars-in-africa-lisbons-three-wars-in-angola)

---

*Product available on Desertcart New Zealand*
*Store origin: NZ*
*Last updated: 2026-02-25*