A richly illustrated examination of the evolution of Portuguese air power and guerrilla air defenses during the conflict's most active years.**

A richly illustrated examination of the evolution of Portuguese air power and guerrilla air defenses during the conflict's most active years.**

From 1963 to 1974, Portugal and its nationalist enemies fought an increasingly intense war for the independence of "Portuguese" Guinea, then a colony but now the Republic of Guinea-Bissau. For most of the conflict Portugal enjoyed virtually unchallenged air supremacy, and increasingly based its military strategy and political pacification program on this singular advantage. The Portuguese Air Force (Força Aérea Portuguesa, abbreviated FAP) consequently played a crucial role in the Guinean war. Indeed, throughout the conflict, the FAP - despite the many challenges it faced - proved to be the most effective and responsive military argument against the PAIGC rebels, which was fighting for the colony's independence from European rule.