A History of Ethiopia / Edition 1

by Harold G. Marcus

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520224797
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	02/22/2002
Edition description:	First Edition, Updated Edition
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	699,160
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

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

Editorial Reviews

With remarkable precision and a sensible balance, Marcus has described the multiple and often contradictory and intersecting forces that have molded Ethiopia's rugged history. In his ambitious attempt to give a comprehensive account, he has paid considerable attention to broader social, economic, and cultural developments... Marcus has given us a concise yet complete overview of Ethiopia's history.

Gebru Tareke

That a country with Ethiopia's historical record should have been so neglected is astonishing, and Harold Marcus is to be congratulated on taking up the challenge...this is a valuable contribution to Ethiopian historiography, which provides a useful and much-needed overview of current knowledge.

Christopher Clapham

Marcus (history, Michigan State Univ.) has authored several books on Ethiopia, most recently Haile Selassie: The Formative Years 1892-1936 (Univ. of California Pr., 1986). This one, which was eight years in the writing, is his most ambitious because it attempts to cover the entire history of Ethiopia from prehistoric times to the fall of the Mengistu government in 1991, although all but the first 80 pages deal with Ethiopia since its reunification under Menelik in 1889. Marcus views Ethiopian history as a series of cyclical expansions from its component parts to empire and back again; he argues that the idea of the greater Ethiopian nation will always cause the state to reunify despite its current disintegration. Whether or not one agrees with his thesis, this book is such a readable and up-to-date overview of a long and complex history that it is recommended for both academic and large public libraries.-Paul H. Thomas, Hoover Inst. Lib., Stanford, Cal.

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