Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cape Verde

The Cape Verde Islands have acquired unusual political and strategic significance in Africa because of the nationalist party, the PAIGC, and its notable founder, Amilcar Babral, who led a protracted armed struggle against Portuguese colonialism. This new third edition presents students and researchers with concise entries and references which assist in further research. This dictionary now includes an expanded discussion of Crioulo culture and modern politics, including the 1991 multi-party elections. The introduction traces the pre-colonial and colonial past in the Upper Guinea coast as well as the background to Portuguese maritime exploration in the 15th century. The book offers an integrated overview of Portuguese, Genoan, Guinean, Senegambian, and Jewish history from which Cape Verdean society has emerged. The book covers the early Portuguese explorers and conquerers, as well as famous visitors such as Columbus, DaGama, Drake, Darwin, and Lindburgh. The American consuls to Cape Verde, the African Squadron, and ties to New England and Brazil with the Marquis de Pombal are now covered. Expanded and updated information is included on the economy, emigration, ecology, and foreign and domestic politics, with new and expanded sections on popular music and ethnomusicology specially written by Susan Hurley-Glowa, doctoral candidate at Brown University. Entries on linguistics, early inscriptions, literary figures, and other cultural and artistic traditions are updated and substantially enlarged. This dictionary also includes an expanded and updated historical chronology, acronyms, maps, definitions of Portuguese terms, and a comprehensive and up-to-date bibliography.