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The quality of a scholarly presentation at least in the humanities and social sciences depends entirely on the availability of documentation. Though Menilek's era is one of the fortunate periods in this respect, some aspects are nonetheless more thinly substantiated than others and, hence, fresh documents can certainly enrich our knowledge. Most of the ministerial papers of Menilek's government were lost in the decades that followed his fatal illness. But some have survived, thank State Councillor Alfred Ilg. During his 28-years' uninterrupted service to the Ethiopian government, Bitwaddad Ilg collected and preserved papers of all kinds - letters, contracts, concession papers, proclamations, certificates of merit and appointments as well as receipts and notes - from which the 312 documents contained in the present volume have been culled. The facsimiles are accompanied by an English translation, introduction, annotation and index.
In March 1896 a well-disciplined and massive Ethiopian army did the unthinkable-it routed an invading Italian force and brought Italy's war of conquest in Africa to an end. In an age of relentless European expansion, Ethiopia had successfully defended its independence and cast doubt upon an unshakable certainty of the age-that sooner or later all Africans would fall under the rule of Europeans. This event opened a breach that would lead, in the aftermath of world war fifty years later, to the continent's painful struggle for freedom from colonial rule. Raymond Jonas offers the first comprehensive account of this singular episode in modern world history. The narrative is peopled by the ambiti...
In this exciting new study, Bahru Zewde, one of the foremost historians of modern Ethiopia, has constructed a collective biography of a remarkable group of men and women in a formative period of their country’s history. Ethiopia’s political independence at the end of the nineteenth century put this new African state in a position to determine its own levels of engagement with the West. Ethiopians went to study in universities around the world. They returned with the skills of their education acquired in Europe and America, and at home began to lay the foundations of a new literature and political philosophy. Pioneers of Change in Ethiopia describes the role of these men and women of ideas in the social and political transformation of the young nation and later in the administration of Haile Selassie.
With the publication of this book, the definitive work on the diplomatic history of Ethiopia in the last quarter of the nineteenth century could be said to have seen the light of day. The book deals with a crucial period when the destiny of Ethiopia hang in the balance. The question - as indeed it was the case for the rest of Africa - was whether the country was to remain independent or become colonized. Menilek, combining diplomatic and military initiatives, not only ensured that Ethiopia remained independent but also expanded its territory to unprecedented limits. The book is based on a critical reading of the secondary literature as well as an exhaustive and analytical use of all the pertinent archival sources, the memoirs and biographies of the principal European characters, and Ethiopian chronicles, biographies and other primary sources. It can serve as the standard text for teaching courses on Ethiopia and the Horn at the university level. At the same time, it provides a useful background to those interested in the formation of the modern Ethiopian state as well as its troubled relations with what eventually became Eritrea.
Volume VI covers the period 1870-1905, when the European powers divided the continent of Africa into colonial territories.
For over a quarter of a century Siegbert Uhlig has been involved in Ethiopian Studies. As wide as the scope of his interests and contributions to Ethiopian Studies has been, so versatile is the thematic range of the 36 articles in this anthology. The essays in fields such as philology, history, linguistics, anthropology and arts were written by the ethiopisants from Ethiopia, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the USA. The Festschrift also includes an account of Ethiopian Studies in Hamburg, and a selected bibliography of Siegbert Uhlig's publications. An index to the contributions of the collection will be made available on the internet.List of contributors: L. Gerhardt, J. Abbink, H. Amborn, D. Appleyard, B. Zewde, B. Tafla, E. Balicka-Witakowska, A. Bausi, B. Yimam, V. Boll, S. Chernetsov, G. Fiaccadori, G. Haile, G. Gelaye, M. Heldman, O. Kapeliuk, S. Kaplan, M. Kleiner, J. Launhardt, G. Lusini, P. Marrassini, A. Martinez, S. Munro-Hay, D. Nosnitsin, R. Pankhurst, H. Rubinkowska, H. Scholler, S. Bekele, W. Smidt, E. Sokolinskaia, E.J. van Donzel, R. Voigt, E. Wagner, S. Weninger, W. Witakowski, R. Zuurmond, T. Ra
LC copy signed by author: "To: Tom Kane -- good friend and always helpful critic who has contributed a good deal to this book -- Paul B. Henze 29 August 2000."
This thesis traces aspects of the political, economic and religious history of Addis Ababa from 1886 to 1910. It is based largely on documentary material, both Ethiopian and European, but also depends on oral information. As a city it was unique in Africa because of the absence of an imposed European direction of its development and as a result it grew ad hoc, influenced by both Ethiopian and foreign concepts of an urban community. From the beginnings Emperor Menilek completely dominated the political and administrative machinery of the capital, but during his illnesses many of his responsibilities were, perforce, delegated to his closest associates who exercised their powers largely through...