Richard Andrew Lobban Jr. - Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-bissau, formerly Portuguese Gunea, is one of West Africas smallest nations, but its history is unusually rich. The three major ethnic groups of West Africa -- Fula, Mande, and Senegambians -- are all represented there. The major regional kingdom of Kaabu was centered on the upper Guinea coast and was the site of the first meeting between Europeans and sub-Saharan Africans in the great age of Portuguese maritime discovery and expansion. In the twentieth century, the protracted war of national liberation, led by the famous Amilcar Cabral and fought on Guinean soil, contributed to the collapse of Portuguese colonial facism in Lisbon. The first edition of this historical dictionary (1979) covered the two nations, Guinea and Cape Verde, then joined politically after a decade of armed struggle. When a military coup separated these nations after 1980, the second edition (1988) responded with an individual volume for each nation. Richard Lobban has been joined in this third edition by Peter Karibe Mendy, Guineas leading researcher. The two combine expertise in the fields of history and anthropology and have greatly expanded coverage of precolonial and resistance history, women and health, ethnomusicology, and economic development as well as adding events and individuals from contemporary multi-party campaigns and democratic elections. Superb maps illustrate changes in Guinean curltues and history. This is the primary resource for this important area, and includes a carefully selected bibliography that will provide guidance for further study.Reviews of the previous edition: