Samora Machel was born in rural Mozambique in 1933 under Portuguese colonial rule and trained as a nurse but abandoned this career to join the fledgling liberation movement Frelimo. He rose through the ranks to become secretary of defence and later president of the movement in 1969. In 1974 he assumed the presidency of the new People's Republic of Mozambique.

This Voices of Liberation: Samora Machel presents the story of Machel’s rise in the liberation movement, and his successes and failures as president of Mozambique. It does so through a biographical introduction, selected translated extracts from both formal and improvised speeches, and interviews. Machel was not a theoretician and wrote little. Nevertheless, he was a compelling orator with a command of multiple registers of Portuguese, and we hear his voice distinctly through his many speeches, and in his interviews. This is the story of an authentic African hero, a man with a vision of a more just society, who died in the service of the liberation of his people.

This book will interest historians and other researchers, academics, and the mainstream reader interested in African history and Southern Africa history in particular.

ISBN Number: 978-0-7969-2668-5
Year of publication: 2024
Publisher: HSRC University Press
Link: Voices of Liberation: Samora Machel Leader and Liberator in Southern Africa