Customer Reviews

Ethiopians (Peoples of Africa)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Richard Pankhurst is one of the foremost modern authorities on Ethiopia. This book is a summary of many more that he has written on the subject. It has acceptable maps (these can almost always be improved) and a helpful chronological table. The prose flows easily and it is a pleasure to read.
My purpose in buying the book was to be able to have conversations regarding Ethiopia with a good friend who has just returned after spending 20 years there. He was impressed that I could ask him to tell me in more detail about the Tigray, or the Amharas or the Oromos, or the Italian occupation or the war with Eritrea!

The Ethiopians - A history is a scholarly introduction to Ethiopian history by an author with a profound insight into the subject. Commencing with the dawn of pre-history, Professor Pankhurst provides a well organised trek through the events, people and geography that are Ethiopia. The perspective is that of an empathetic, embedded westerner, conveying a deep passion for the subject while connecting with an educated western audience. Ethiopia has a very long and complex history, making the task of summarising it extremely challenging. It is therefore almost inevitable that any brief description of this fascinating web of events and people must at times verge on the clinical. This book is, however, by no means free of passion. It would be inhuman for any author to not convey some degree of emotion when reporting events such as the 1935 invasion by Mussolini's regime, and colonial attitudes to such a proud and independent nation. Overall this book provides a very useful historical basecamp from which the reader can make forays into the complexity of Ethiopia.

This is a good book, especially when it got to the nineteenth century. My only complaint is that it barely says anything about ancient Axum (thats like writing a history of Italy but skipping over the Roman empire). The text also seemed to focus on Ethiopia's connection with the rest of the world, rather than focusing on Ethiopia's history and the Ethiopian people themselves (that is , their culture). An imformative read but hardly the kind of info I expected.

As a RastafarI I have an intense interest in the history of Ethiopia. However, in the country I live in, I could find nothing in the book shops, not even in the library that is anything else than travelogues, architectural picture books, satires of the reign of Haile Selassie-I or the usual Western doom-n-gloom vision of contemporary politics.

What a relief this book is indeed! As for the above reasons, my so far knowledge on Ethiopia's history is relatively limited, i.e. my rating has to be considered as that of a reader, who largely reads "new" information.

The subtitle "A History" should be considered, as it rightfully doesn't say "The History". The 277 text pages - including 25 half-page sized pictures - are merely a summary of Ethiopia's history. Most of the time quite literally, as the book proceeds with an incredible pace through the times. Therefore, it is probably the perfect book for newcomers to the subject. On average every page suggests an entire book waiting to be written on its content. So much for the Western assumption, Africa would be devoid of any history! In fact, reading this book, I felt like reading some sort of science fiction, the history of another planet. Ethiopian history reads like one of the "classical" histories of other countries we are well used to, only this one has been thoroughly omitted from the Western consciousness. No wonder, after all, it is THE classical country, as it is the oldest, in the sense that Ethiopia is the very cradle of humanity. No wonder also, knowledge about it has been largely censored, as the Western entanglements in Ethiopian history largely is a shame.

It would be an idel attempt to summarize this defacto summary. Let me select some interesting bits of information to wet your appetite: Aksum (preceding name of "Abyssinia", preceding "Ethiopia") came into existence at the time, Jesus was conceived, i.e. 8 "B.C." (though the book doesn't explicitly go into that). Muhammad excluded Ethiopia from the Jihad. (The book elaborates on, what happened to the rulers on either side who violated that.) Three successive Ethiopian rulers turned Ethiopia into a Roman Catholic society. (Guess, what happened to THEM and what the consequences for the country turned out to be!) Losing soldiers of the US-Civil War as mercenaries engaged in warfare against Ethiopia. Instead of any democratic member of the League of Nations to initially help Ethiopia against the fascist Italian invasion it was only one leader to do so: Adolf Hitler. Secretely, of course, and not for altruistic reasons... Written in 1998 the book closes after the revolution of 1991.

All too many bits of history are mentioned too briefly for my taste. This briefly, that they do not really explain themselves, as in one or two sentences. I would have appreciated an extra 100 pages and gladly paid more money for that. For example, I DO know a bit more about the abolished "lebeshay" tradition of magical thief-catchers. It would have been interesting to explain more (or at all) than is actually said about it like in this sentence. Some information I missed completely, like the Ethiopian temporary "spin-off" kingdom on the Arabian peninsula and the Year of the Elephant (of importance at the advent of Islam). However, I can't bring myselft to subtract any star from this book.

Pankhurst writes a nice readable book. The work is a bit shallow on the treatment of a variety of subjects but it is survey so that is expected.

It reads well for a reader who is just approaching the subject but anyone with a more than passing interest in the book will likely want something a bit more substantial.