In 1987 and 1988, in a remote corner of Angola, shielded from the international media and therefore largely unreported, the town of Cuito Cuanavale suffered under siege for over ten months in one of the biggest, and what turned out to be the last, battles of the Cold War. The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale is an obscured milestone in the history of twentieth century humanity.

The Battle is marginalized in Western mainstream scholarship, frequently ignored, almost as if it had never occurred. However, the overarching significance of the battle cannot be erased; it was the turning point in the struggle against apartheid, and Namibian and Angolan independence.