The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa (Yale Library of Military History) [Hardcover]

Gebru Tareke (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0300141637 | ISBN-13: 978-0300141634 | Publication Date: June 23, 2009

Revolution, civil wars, and guerilla warfare wracked Ethiopia during three turbulent decades at the end of the twentieth century. This book is a pioneering study of the military history and political significance of this crucial Horn of Africa region during that period. Drawing on new archival materials and interviews, Gebru Tareke illuminates the conflicts, comparing them to the Russian and Iranian revolutions in terms of regional impact.

 

Writing in vigorous and accessible prose, Tareke brings to life the leading personalities in the domestic political struggles, strategies of the warring parties, international actors, and key battles. He demonstrates how the brutal dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam lacked imagination in responding to crises and alienated the peasantry by destroying human and material resources. And he describes the delicate balance of persuasion and force with which northern insurgents mobilized the peasantry and triumphed. The book sheds invaluable light not only on modern Ethiopia but also on post-colonial state formation and insurrectionary politics worldwide.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An outstanding contribution to the twentieth-century history of the Horn of Africa and to the study of guerrilla warfare. . . . Compelling."—Donald Crummey, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

(Donald Crummey )

"This masterful politico-military history of the Ethiopian Revolution is a superb account.  Tareke offers a meticulously documented chronicle that is an indispensible guide to the multiple wars of the Mengistu era."—M. Crawford Young, University of Wisconsin-Madison

(M. Crawford Young )

"This book chronicles, then interprets, the cataclysmic revolutionary events of the 1970s that changed the face of Ethiopia. A groundbreaking work recounted in elegant prose.  With it Dr. Tareke retains his reputation as sprinting in the forefront of Ethiopianist scholars."—Said S. Samatar, Rutgers University

(Said S. Samatar )

"A provocative and meticulously researched study of the revolutionary wars of modern Northeast Africa...a lucid and ultimately compelling book."--James De Lorenzi, The International Journal of African Historical Studies

(James De Lorenzi The International Journal of African Historical Studies )

"[Gebru Tareke] is an excellent guide to the specifics of modern Ethiopian history."--Cedric Barnes, The Journal of African History

(Cedric Barnes The Journal of African History )

About the Author

Gebru Tareke is professor of history at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and author of Ethiopia: Power and Protest: Peasant Revolts in the Twentieth Century. He lives in Rochester, NY.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (June 23, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300141637
• ISBN-13: 978-0300141634
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #613,671 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > History > Africa > Eritrea
  • #61 in Books > History > Africa > Ethiopia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More about War than Revolution, January 15, 2011

By 

llywrch (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa (Yale Library of Military History) (Hardcover)

The title of Gebru Tareke's book is slightly misleading: it is not about the Ethiopian Revolution -- how an ancient empire was violently transformed into an arguably modern political and social entity. His book instead covers how the 14 years the Ethiopian military spent 14 years waging war against its military opponents: Somalia, the Eritrean freedom fighters, and the Tigray Peoples' Liberation Front (TPLF) -- the last opponent being the current ruling group in Ethiopia.

Gebru does not provide a narrative of the fluctuating fortunes of the Ethiopian military; he provides details on only five of the numerous armed conflicts which occupy this period. One chapter narrates Ethiopia's successful Ogaden War. Another section retells the military activities of the decisive Battle of Shire, in which the TPLF decisively defeated a better-equipped yet demoralized and incompetent Ethiopian army. The remaining three chapters are snapshots at different moments of the final years of the Eritrean War of Independence.

Far more attention is spent discussing the dynamics of the Ethiopian military establishment. For most associated with the Ethiopian Revolutionary Army, Communist ideology was little more than a few required lectures and proper catch-phrases; according to Gebru, the majority were far more concerned with personal concerns like climbing up the hierarchy of power, lining their pockets or getting their children into foreign schools. Units were impotent due to chronic squabbling between military commanders and political commissars -- often for reasons unrelated to tactics or the well-being of their troops.

Although well-written & detailed, Gebru Tareke's approach may deter many readers who are more interested in reading a story with a beginning, a narrative arc, and a conclusion. But for discussing the more important issues of why one group of participants succeeded while others failed -- despite the heroism and sacrifice of thousands of participants -- Gebru's approach is the proper way to do help find the answers.