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.