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University of California Press

About the Book

In this eminently readable, concise history of Ethiopia, Harold Marcus surveys the evolution of the oldest African nation from prehistory to the present. For the updated edition, Marcus has written a new preface, two new chapters, and an epilogue, detailing the development and implications of Ethiopia as a Federal state and the war with Eritrea.


In this eminently readable, concise history of Ethiopia, Harold Marcus surveys the evolution of the oldest African nation from prehistory to the present. For the updated edition, Marcus has written a new preface, two new chapters, and an epilogue, detaili

About the Author

Harold G. Marcus (1936-2003) was Professor of History and African Studies at Michigan State University. His books include Haile Sellassie I: The Formative Years, 1892–1936 (California, 1986), Ethiopia, Great Britain, and the United States, 1941–1974: The Politics of Empire (California, 1983) and The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 1844–1916 (1975).

Table of Contents

List of Photographs
Preface
Preface to the 1994 Edition
1. Beginnings, to 1270
2. The Golden Age of the Solomonic Dynasty, to 1500
3. The Decline of the Solomonic Dynasty, to 1796
4. Political and Economic Transformations, to 1855
5. Imperial Resurrection, to 1877
6. Imperial Consolidation, to 1889
7. The Defeat of European Imperialism, to 1897
8. Menilek's State, to 1916
9. Ras Tafari, to 1930
10. Haile Sellassie, to 1936
11. Haile Sellassie, to 1955
12. Haile Sellassie, to 1973
13. The Revolution, to 1977
14. The Failure of the Revolution, to 1991
15. The New Rulers, to 1995
16. Peace and War, to 2000
Epilogue
Maps
Glossary
Select Bibliography
Index

Reviews

"A very ambitious work. . . . Its readability will insure a wide audience. . . . Specialists will be alternately outraged, amused, engaged, and challenged."—James McCann, Boston University