What do you think?
Rate this book
No Fist Is Big Enough to Hide the Sky: The Liberation of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, 1963-74
Basil Davidson ranks as one of the most remarkable Africanist historians of his generation. A leading authority on Portuguese Africa who witnessed many of these events first-hand, Davidson draws on his own extensive experience in the country as well as the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) archives to provide a detailed and rigorous analysis of the conflict. The result, No Fist is Big Enough to Hide the Sky , still stands as a key text in the history of the eleven-year struggle against Portuguese rule in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde.
Less well known than the struggles in Angola and Mozambique, the liberation war waged by the PAIGC, as Davidson shows, easily ranks alongside those conflicts as an example of an African independence movement triumphing against overwhelming odds. The book provides one of the earliest accounts of the assassination of the PAIGC’s founder, Amilcar Cabral, and documents the movement’s remarkable success in recovering from the death of its leader and in eventually attaining independence. An invaluable resource for the study both of the region and of African liberation struggles as a whole, this edition features a new preface by Cape Verde’s first president, Aristides Pereira, and a new foreword by Cabral himself.
Less well known than the struggles in Angola and Mozambique, the liberation war waged by the PAIGC, as Davidson shows, easily ranks alongside those conflicts as an example of an African independence movement triumphing against overwhelming odds. The book provides one of the earliest accounts of the assassination of the PAIGC’s founder, Amilcar Cabral, and documents the movement’s remarkable success in recovering from the death of its leader and in eventually attaining independence. An invaluable resource for the study both of the region and of African liberation struggles as a whole, this edition features a new preface by Cape Verde’s first president, Aristides Pereira, and a new foreword by Cabral himself.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1981
3 people are currently reading
266 people want to read
About the author
Basil Davidson
103 books73 followersBasil Risbridger Davidson was an acclaimed British historian, writer and Africanist, particularly knowledgeable on the subject of Portuguese Africa prior to the 1974 Carnation Revolution .
He has written several books on the current plight of Africa. Colonialism and the rise of African emancipation movements have been central themes of his work.
He is an Honorary Fellow of the London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
From 1939, Davidson was a reporter for the London "Economist" in Paris, France. From December 1939, he was a Secret Intelligence Service (SIS)/MI-6 D Section (sabotage) officer sent to Budapest (see Special Operations Europe, chapter 3) to establish a news service as cover. In April 1941, with the Nazi invasion, he fled to Belgrade, Yugoslavia. In May, he was captured by Italian forces and was later released as part of a prisoner exchange. From late 1942 to mid-1943, he was chief of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) Yugoslav Section in Cairo, Egypt, where he was James Klugmann's supervisor. From January 1945 he was liaison officer with partisans in Liguria, Italy.
After the war, he was Paris correspondent for "The Times," "Daily Herald" ,"New Statesman", and the "Daily Mirror."
Since 1951, he became a well known authority on African history, an unfashionable subject in the 1950s. His writings have emphasised the pre-colonial achievements of Africans, the disastrous effects of the Atlantic Slave Trade, the further damage inflicted on Africa by European colonialism and the baleful effects of the Nation State in Africa.
Davidson's works are required reading in many British universities. He is globally recognized as an expert on African History.
He currently lives in Staffordshire.
He has written several books on the current plight of Africa. Colonialism and the rise of African emancipation movements have been central themes of his work.
He is an Honorary Fellow of the London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
From 1939, Davidson was a reporter for the London "Economist" in Paris, France. From December 1939, he was a Secret Intelligence Service (SIS)/MI-6 D Section (sabotage) officer sent to Budapest (see Special Operations Europe, chapter 3) to establish a news service as cover. In April 1941, with the Nazi invasion, he fled to Belgrade, Yugoslavia. In May, he was captured by Italian forces and was later released as part of a prisoner exchange. From late 1942 to mid-1943, he was chief of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) Yugoslav Section in Cairo, Egypt, where he was James Klugmann's supervisor. From January 1945 he was liaison officer with partisans in Liguria, Italy.
After the war, he was Paris correspondent for "The Times," "Daily Herald" ,"New Statesman", and the "Daily Mirror."
Since 1951, he became a well known authority on African history, an unfashionable subject in the 1950s. His writings have emphasised the pre-colonial achievements of Africans, the disastrous effects of the Atlantic Slave Trade, the further damage inflicted on Africa by European colonialism and the baleful effects of the Nation State in Africa.
Davidson's works are required reading in many British universities. He is globally recognized as an expert on African History.
He currently lives in Staffordshire.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 28, 2022
Great book on a less known but important historical period: the liberation struggle in Portuguese Guine (actual Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is like Les Damnés de la terre by Frantz Fanon and Pedagogia do Oprimido by Paulo Freire put in practice: a very thoughtful and participatory approach to armed struggle and decolonization, of building a new society out of oppressed and poor populations, avoiding all the pitfalls seen in other newly independent African countries, where power has been captured by the African bourgeoisie, whereas the former colonial powers remain largely in control. The leaders of the revolutionary movement seem equally aware of the dangers of the party turning into a rigid autocratic system and carefully navigate to safeguard the principles in which they believe.
On the one hand, this is very inspiring: David beats Goliath and proves that other models of true autonomy and participatory governance and society are possible! On the other hand, if you look at Guinea Bissau today, very little seems to remain of this hopeful and empowering period: poverty and poor governance continue, just as they do in many other former colonies. Power seems always to get captured by small groups that turn against the popular majority... The first signs of this were already apparent in 1980 when Davidson finished this book, though he remains very optimistic as to the capacity of the PAIGC to withstand all obstacles and continue to thrive. Alas.
On the one hand, this is very inspiring: David beats Goliath and proves that other models of true autonomy and participatory governance and society are possible! On the other hand, if you look at Guinea Bissau today, very little seems to remain of this hopeful and empowering period: poverty and poor governance continue, just as they do in many other former colonies. Power seems always to get captured by small groups that turn against the popular majority... The first signs of this were already apparent in 1980 when Davidson finished this book, though he remains very optimistic as to the capacity of the PAIGC to withstand all obstacles and continue to thrive. Alas.
May 18, 2011
This book deserves to become a classic. It is an inspiring story of the liberation of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde by the African Independence Party of Guine and Cape Verde (PAIGC) and their militants, especially Amilcar Cabral.
Davidson is an excellent storyteller, combining on-the-ground anecdote, interviews with Cabral and other PAIGC militants, stories from the field, and the long history of Portuguese colonialism in Africa. (Also worth checking out is his In the Eye of the Storm, a history of the MPLA in Angola).
Davidson quotes Cabral and other PAIGC leaders in extended sections, and Cabral wrote the foreword to the first edition (the second edition was completed after his assassination and after the liberation of the countries. The story of his assassination and the PAIGC response is told movingly).
Cabral's down-to-earth political genius shines through. Before he helped found the PAIGC, Cabral did a census for the Portuguese, and he walked all over Guine, meeting its people and learning their problems and their dreams.
He insisted that the militants of the PAIGC had to show the people that they would eat better and live more secure lives by committing themselves to the cause of liberation.
It made me think about how radicals in the US try to connect our big picture analysis and dreams with our everyday organizing. I think we have a lot to learn from Cabral, and from this book.
Davidson is an excellent storyteller, combining on-the-ground anecdote, interviews with Cabral and other PAIGC militants, stories from the field, and the long history of Portuguese colonialism in Africa. (Also worth checking out is his In the Eye of the Storm, a history of the MPLA in Angola).
Davidson quotes Cabral and other PAIGC leaders in extended sections, and Cabral wrote the foreword to the first edition (the second edition was completed after his assassination and after the liberation of the countries. The story of his assassination and the PAIGC response is told movingly).
Cabral's down-to-earth political genius shines through. Before he helped found the PAIGC, Cabral did a census for the Portuguese, and he walked all over Guine, meeting its people and learning their problems and their dreams.
He insisted that the militants of the PAIGC had to show the people that they would eat better and live more secure lives by committing themselves to the cause of liberation.
It made me think about how radicals in the US try to connect our big picture analysis and dreams with our everyday organizing. I think we have a lot to learn from Cabral, and from this book.
December 12, 2020
A few men who want a revolution may launch one: only many men who want a revolution can make one.
October 24, 2025
4 stars. This is how Basil Davidson begins his account of the independence struggle in Portuguese Guiné:
“The small jet bomber dives from around five thousand feet, its engine drilling like a monstrous fly. Two others follow: Fiats, I think, of the type they make in Western Germany. About five miles away.
We stand near the edge of the clump of trees that conceals our base, a dozen huts, a small dump of 75mm. shells: watching. It is otherwise a quiet Monday morning. 9 October 1967.
A great wedge of black smoke fans out above the skyline fringe of count palms.
‘Napalm’, says the man from Vietcong who is standing beside me, a visitor like myself. His tone is of the bitter weariness that a doctor might use when identifying yet another onset. Tran Hoai-nam, veteran member of the central committee of the Liberation Front of South Vietnam has seen it all before, has seen it many times.
I myself have seen no warfare since 1945; and then at least there was no napalm.”
He had me at “napalm”. I’d never heard of Basil Davidson prior to this book. But boy did he strike across my radar like a meteor over the night sky with this one.
Davidson was a journalist turned British intelligence (MI6) officer during World War II. He found his calling as leftist scholar/journalist of African independence movements and became a giant in the field.
I came across this book looking for a 20th century history of Cape Verde. I got a lot more than I bargained for. Aside from being an observer of the struggle, Davidson is a phenomenal writer and incorporates flashbacks of his time as an intelligence officer in Nazi-Occupied Yugoslavia into his narrative. Some of those reminiscences are so compelling I nearly forgot what I was reading, and even now I’d like to hear more about what he did there.
I was unprepared for how captivated I would be.
In addition to the first-person reporting - some of which relates his extended time with revolutionary PAIGC leader Amilcar Cabral - Davidson provides a Marxist-inflected, highly sympathetic summary of what the revolutionary movement (PAIGC) was doing, how it was doing it, and why. There are interesting comparisons made to the revolutionary struggles in Cuba, Vietnam and China.
This short (200 page) book is at once a revolutionary pamphlet, a work of war reporting, and a meditation on the struggles facing revolutionary movements in de-colonizing Africa.
Even if you could think of no country you’re less interested in than Guinea-Bissau, parts of this are still completely worth reading.
And if you ARE interested in either Guinea-Bissau or Amilcar Cabral, the fact that Davidson personally knew Cabrals assassins and could given a pretty thorough rundown of what happened and why was quite satisfying.
Reading Davidson’s accounts - and especially hearing the concerns and hopes of Cabral - it really does make one wonder how things went so horribly wrong in Guinea-Bissau, and why things went so much better in Cape Verde.
As an aside, one point this book highlights which I find fascinating is the way the relationship between Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde developed since independence in 1975. Considering the PAIGC (African Independence Party for Guinea and Cape Verde) fought together and came to power in both countries, and in both instances were proclaiming the goal of uniting the two republics, it’s interesting that goal was eventually quietly forgotten and neither country seems to have any qualms about. It would be as if the communists came to power in BOTH Taiwan and mainland China, both proclaiming the desire to unite, but both insisting on the need to do so democratically and organically, and then having centrifugal forces gradually pull them apart. I understand there are some deep, logical reasons why union between the two countries would have been implausible, but the fact that they never even attempted it is interesting given all the other less plausible unions which were tried in Africa between decolonized states. But I digress.
So why did I knock off a star? Three things:
Given all the benefits of hindsight which Davidson had for this 1981 edition, it would have been great if he attempted to incorporate a bit of the foreign angle. To be sure, he alludes to events in Lisbon and issues with Guinea-Conakry, but I would have loved to hear just a little bit more about US and Soviet involvement and considerations. He really makes a lot of the PAIGC’s insistence that this be a totally indigenous revolution beholden to no one, and fair enough, but those anti-aircraft missiles were coming from somewhere and I bet Kissinger felt some sort of way about that.
Bias. I understand this was written more-or-less explicitly in support of the cause (Cabral himself wrote the foreword, for instance) and I respect that, but a bit more exploration of some of the issues the PAIGC was facing before and after independence would have been appreciated, especially for the post-independent edition, not least considering Guinea-Bissau did not exactly live up to the post colonial promise outlined in this book (in 1981 that was obviously harder to judge, but still).
Details. Given that this book is more of a pamphlet, some of the ins and outs of the negotiations at the end probably could have been omitted. I found a few such sections dragged a bit and didn’t add much to my understanding, but maybe there are some specialists out there who loved them.
Still though, those book is a gem, and is recommended it to anyone interested in quite a few different topics, and it’s certainly motivated me to pick up some other works by Davidson.
“The small jet bomber dives from around five thousand feet, its engine drilling like a monstrous fly. Two others follow: Fiats, I think, of the type they make in Western Germany. About five miles away.
We stand near the edge of the clump of trees that conceals our base, a dozen huts, a small dump of 75mm. shells: watching. It is otherwise a quiet Monday morning. 9 October 1967.
A great wedge of black smoke fans out above the skyline fringe of count palms.
‘Napalm’, says the man from Vietcong who is standing beside me, a visitor like myself. His tone is of the bitter weariness that a doctor might use when identifying yet another onset. Tran Hoai-nam, veteran member of the central committee of the Liberation Front of South Vietnam has seen it all before, has seen it many times.
I myself have seen no warfare since 1945; and then at least there was no napalm.”
He had me at “napalm”. I’d never heard of Basil Davidson prior to this book. But boy did he strike across my radar like a meteor over the night sky with this one.
Davidson was a journalist turned British intelligence (MI6) officer during World War II. He found his calling as leftist scholar/journalist of African independence movements and became a giant in the field.
I came across this book looking for a 20th century history of Cape Verde. I got a lot more than I bargained for. Aside from being an observer of the struggle, Davidson is a phenomenal writer and incorporates flashbacks of his time as an intelligence officer in Nazi-Occupied Yugoslavia into his narrative. Some of those reminiscences are so compelling I nearly forgot what I was reading, and even now I’d like to hear more about what he did there.
I was unprepared for how captivated I would be.
In addition to the first-person reporting - some of which relates his extended time with revolutionary PAIGC leader Amilcar Cabral - Davidson provides a Marxist-inflected, highly sympathetic summary of what the revolutionary movement (PAIGC) was doing, how it was doing it, and why. There are interesting comparisons made to the revolutionary struggles in Cuba, Vietnam and China.
This short (200 page) book is at once a revolutionary pamphlet, a work of war reporting, and a meditation on the struggles facing revolutionary movements in de-colonizing Africa.
Even if you could think of no country you’re less interested in than Guinea-Bissau, parts of this are still completely worth reading.
And if you ARE interested in either Guinea-Bissau or Amilcar Cabral, the fact that Davidson personally knew Cabrals assassins and could given a pretty thorough rundown of what happened and why was quite satisfying.
Reading Davidson’s accounts - and especially hearing the concerns and hopes of Cabral - it really does make one wonder how things went so horribly wrong in Guinea-Bissau, and why things went so much better in Cape Verde.
As an aside, one point this book highlights which I find fascinating is the way the relationship between Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde developed since independence in 1975. Considering the PAIGC (African Independence Party for Guinea and Cape Verde) fought together and came to power in both countries, and in both instances were proclaiming the goal of uniting the two republics, it’s interesting that goal was eventually quietly forgotten and neither country seems to have any qualms about. It would be as if the communists came to power in BOTH Taiwan and mainland China, both proclaiming the desire to unite, but both insisting on the need to do so democratically and organically, and then having centrifugal forces gradually pull them apart. I understand there are some deep, logical reasons why union between the two countries would have been implausible, but the fact that they never even attempted it is interesting given all the other less plausible unions which were tried in Africa between decolonized states. But I digress.
So why did I knock off a star? Three things:
Given all the benefits of hindsight which Davidson had for this 1981 edition, it would have been great if he attempted to incorporate a bit of the foreign angle. To be sure, he alludes to events in Lisbon and issues with Guinea-Conakry, but I would have loved to hear just a little bit more about US and Soviet involvement and considerations. He really makes a lot of the PAIGC’s insistence that this be a totally indigenous revolution beholden to no one, and fair enough, but those anti-aircraft missiles were coming from somewhere and I bet Kissinger felt some sort of way about that.
Bias. I understand this was written more-or-less explicitly in support of the cause (Cabral himself wrote the foreword, for instance) and I respect that, but a bit more exploration of some of the issues the PAIGC was facing before and after independence would have been appreciated, especially for the post-independent edition, not least considering Guinea-Bissau did not exactly live up to the post colonial promise outlined in this book (in 1981 that was obviously harder to judge, but still).
Details. Given that this book is more of a pamphlet, some of the ins and outs of the negotiations at the end probably could have been omitted. I found a few such sections dragged a bit and didn’t add much to my understanding, but maybe there are some specialists out there who loved them.
Still though, those book is a gem, and is recommended it to anyone interested in quite a few different topics, and it’s certainly motivated me to pick up some other works by Davidson.
November 27, 2023
This is not a book much at all about Cape Verde so anyone looking for a country-specific read before a trip (as I was) might look elsewhere...However, this is a really fabulous work!
Davidson is uniquely situated as a friend of the PAIGC to discuss the revolution from the inside and he does so primarily through the ideas and speeches of Amilcar Cabral. Davidson is completely partisan and a good friend of Cabral so this is not an objective work, but nonetheless still very very interesting.
Cabral is an extremely interesting thinker. He is clear in his belief that the class ideology of Marxism is not enough to sustain a successful state post-revolution. He disdains ‘foreign aid’ in the form of advisors and trainers from other socialist states as he believes that the revolution must be owned by the local population.
He believes in peasant/rural economic development, encourages the PAIGC to be militant but to avoid militarism, and claims to practice “revolutionary democracy”.
“Learn from life, learn from our people, learn from books, learn from experiences of others. Never stop learning… Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories...”
In sum, a fascinating character.
At the time of writing it is clear that Davidson believed in Cabral and Cabral believed that the PAIGC could combine military and political aims to create a fairer, more advantageous post-colonial society.
Davidson finished the book right after the 1981 coup in Bissau. His final lines are optimistic and, in general, this work represents the period in which it is written when the revolutionary spirit was strong and the vision was idealistic. Reality, though, has been a lot harsher, especially in Guinea-Bissau.
Davidson is uniquely situated as a friend of the PAIGC to discuss the revolution from the inside and he does so primarily through the ideas and speeches of Amilcar Cabral. Davidson is completely partisan and a good friend of Cabral so this is not an objective work, but nonetheless still very very interesting.
Cabral is an extremely interesting thinker. He is clear in his belief that the class ideology of Marxism is not enough to sustain a successful state post-revolution. He disdains ‘foreign aid’ in the form of advisors and trainers from other socialist states as he believes that the revolution must be owned by the local population.
He believes in peasant/rural economic development, encourages the PAIGC to be militant but to avoid militarism, and claims to practice “revolutionary democracy”.
“Learn from life, learn from our people, learn from books, learn from experiences of others. Never stop learning… Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories...”
In sum, a fascinating character.
At the time of writing it is clear that Davidson believed in Cabral and Cabral believed that the PAIGC could combine military and political aims to create a fairer, more advantageous post-colonial society.
Davidson finished the book right after the 1981 coup in Bissau. His final lines are optimistic and, in general, this work represents the period in which it is written when the revolutionary spirit was strong and the vision was idealistic. Reality, though, has been a lot harsher, especially in Guinea-Bissau.
October 15, 2025
Well, that was intense.
Cape Verde is an island off the Northwest coast of Africa.
Fun facts!
1. Created by volcanic activity, it still has an active volcano! Cool!
2. Cape Verde got rich off the (evil) transatlantic slave trade. Less cool.
3. Cape Verde has the third largest nesting site in the world for Loggerhead turtles. Cool again!
Cape Verde is an island off the Northwest coast of Africa.
Fun facts!
1. Created by volcanic activity, it still has an active volcano! Cool!
2. Cape Verde got rich off the (evil) transatlantic slave trade. Less cool.
3. Cape Verde has the third largest nesting site in the world for Loggerhead turtles. Cool again!
August 4, 2009
A wonderfully told inside look at the inspiring, successful anti-colonial movement in Guinea-Bissau and the shrewd political leadership of Amilcar Cabral and his comrades in the PAIGC
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews