ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides centre stage to the life stories of individuals who were committed to political transformation via violent means in Portugal. Zeca Afonso believes the political education he received at home prevented him from embarking on the "ideological drifts" that happened to some young people after the revolution of 25 April 1974. For him, the Colonial War was about "defence missions" liberating both the settlers and the natives from the extreme violence of the communist guerrilla movements, which were undermining the great work done by the Portuguese regime in the development of the colonies. Individual radical dispositions are deemed as the primary drivers of political violence. The theorisation of the life stories of former politically violent militants is a new and welcome development in the political violence literature.
