One goal among many of the Quadros administration's independent foreign policy was building a new relationship with Africa. The dramatic appearance of numerous independent states on the other shore of the South Atlantic, as well as Brazil's social and intellectual traditions, made this a particularly appealing ideal. It was at that time, in 1961, that the distinguished historian, José Honório Rodrigues, published África e Brasil: Outro Horizonte, a book written to illustrate the nearly four centuries of mutual influences between Brazil and Africa, and to urge the resumption of cultural and political relations.