Historical Thoughts And Interpretations

In this episode, I interview Professor Natalia Telepneva.  She is a Lecturer in International History at the University of Stratchlyde.  Her specialty is the Cold War-era Soviet Union and socialism, with a specific focus on Africa.  And today we will discuss her first book, "Cold War Liberation: The Soviet Union and the Collapse of the Portuguese Empire in Africa, 1961-1975," in which she details the roles of Soviet and even Czechoslovak bureaucrats and spies in the anti-colonialist wars in Portugal's African colonies of Guinea-Bissau, Angola, and Mozambique.  We will talk about what connected the Soviet Union with the local independence movements, how the Communist Soviet government supported Marxism-inspired leaders in Portuguese Africa, and how the anti-colonial wars played out.  You may download Professor Telepneva's book as a free e-book at this link. Image: Portion of a 1987 Soviet stamp remembering the 10th anniversary of a Friendship and Cooperation agreement between the Soviet Union and Mozambique.