This study is the first comprehensive assessment of warfare in Angola to cover all three phases of the nation's modern history. It is also the first to cover the final phase of warfare in Angola, 1998-2002, culminating in Jonas Savimbi's death and the signing of the Luena Accord. Author Stephen L.Weigert offers an account of the strategy of guerrilla warfare employed by the Unitainsurgency and an assessment of the role and significance of leadership in insurgency. This account also urges the reader to consider Savimbi's "charisma" as a character trait which distracted many from a more sober assessment of his political inclinations (reformer or revolutionary) and his abilities as a military commander.

Some scholars and economists argue that the Angolan people could be on the cusp of a giant leap forward, based on the state's booming oil sector, which would lay the groundwork for long-term economic prosperity. But is this a realistic scenario? Patrick Chabal and Nuno Vidal's Angolais a thorough introduction to the history and present-day reality of one of Africa's most complex countries. Contributors offer incisive and original analyses of Angola’s colonial history, its economic, political, and social evolution since independence, its current structural issues, and its prospects for the future.