Nzinga — Moses L. Howard

Across the savannah and into the green mountains, people shouted her name: “Nzinga, Nzinga, Child of the Flame!” “Nzinga, Daughter of the Old Ngola, Savior of Ndongo!”

In the governor's palace Luanda, the Portuguese courtiers whisper in shock: A woman! Sent to make a treaty with the invaders, Nzinga of Angola is swept into world history, a generation after Elizabeth I ruled England. For forty years, Queen Nzinga fights to destroy the imperial colonists who seek to enslave her people.

This fictional biography delivers exhilarating adventure and passionate stories of friendship, love, and family. The child Nzinga learns the ways of the ancestors through griots' songs. She studies the wisdom and warrior ways of her father, the old Ngola. The adult Nzinga, now queen, leads with brilliance during a time of violent upheaval. As a warrior, she inspires a distressed people to resist brutality and betrayal.

Luminous storytelling brings to life the Angolan culture in a flourishing African kingdom, now lost, where early maps of West Africa call out: “Here reigned the celebrated Queen Nzinga!”