Another Day of Life

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Penguin Adult, Jun 7, 2001 - Biography & Autobiography - 148 pages
In Luanda, the capital of Angola, an apocalyptic atmosphere prevails as the Portuguese residents hurriedly desert the city. Determined to cover events as four hundred years of colonial rule come to an end, Ryszard Kapuscinski hitched a lift on one of the last Portuguese military aircraft flying to Angola. He discovered the terrifying spectacle of a war within the war for national independence- a murderous, messy struggle in which many of the participants can scarcely tell one another apart. Shot through with wit and irony, Kapuscinski's superb account vividly conveys the heat, confusion, fear and unrelenting tension of a country tragically divided by its new freedom. It is one of the truly great pieces of modern reportage.

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About the author (2001)

Ryszard Kapuscinski, Poland's most acclaimed foreign correspondent, was born in 1932. After graduating in history from Warsaw University, he was sent to India, Pakistan and Afghanistan to report for Polish news, which began his lifelong fascination with the Third World. During his four decades reporting on Asia, Latin America and Africa, he befriended Che Guevara, Salvador Allende and Patrice Lumumba, witnessed twenty-seven coups and revolutions, and was sentenced to death four times. His last book, published by Penguin, was Travels with Herodotus (2006). His previous books Shah of Shahs (about the Iranian revolution), The Emperor (about the fall of Ethiopia's Haile Selassie), Imperium (about the fall of the Soviet Union) and The Soccer War (a compendium of reportage from the Third World) - have been translated into nineteen languages. He died in January 2007.