When the academic study of African history began in the 1960s, Angola figured in, but largely from the perspective of the African kingdoms of the region, with scholars focusing, for example, on the history of the Kingdom of Kongo, the Kingdom of Ndongo, or the growth of the Lunda Empire. The Portuguese colony of Angola, founded in 1575, was also treated with regard to its relations to those kingdoms: for example, David Birmingham's classic study of Portuguese expansion addressed Angola largely in the context of the Mbundu-speaking regions, and Joseph C. Miller's magisterial work focused on the slave trade was mostly devoted to African polities and commerce.
More recently, however, scholars, mostly Brazilian, have begun to examine Angola as a colonial society in its own right, not surprisingly bringing Brazil's unique relationship to Angola into play. Roquinaldo Ferreira and Mariana Candido have produced the most significant of these new works...
