This article discusses the relationship between literature and history in Mayombe, from Pepetela (whose real name is Arthur Mauricio Pestana dos Santos), that through an anti-hero novel seeks to represent years of anguish, pain and resistance of African people ingrained in the woods to fight a common enemy: the Portuguese people. However, the author reports that this common ideal is confused with individual objections of each activist who represents the nation. This brief article addresses the history of Angola, the composition of the work and the life of the author, that through the fragmentation of characters composes his own experience as a guerrilla fighter in the liberation struggle.