An African People’s Quest for Freedom and Justice

Description

Like its African neighbours, Eritrea attained colonial statehood under a European power, in this case Italy. Yet, during decolonisation, its people were singularly excluded from the right to self-determination, for external reasons: superpower rivalry over the country’s strategic position on the Red Sea; a mistaken notion of irreconcilable sectarian differences within Eritrea’s population, invoked in order to brand it a society unfit for statehood; and Ethiopia’s imperial claim, based on mythical historical connections.

The Ethiopian call for Eritrea’s return, supported by the UK and the US, sealed its fate at the international level. First, in the early 1950s, the UN General Assembly federated Eritrea as an autonomous unit under Ethiopian sovereignty; a decade later, Addis Ababa annexed it as a province—in neither case was the population consulted, sparking a liberation war.

This vital book traces the genesis of the Eritrean independence struggle through hitherto unexplored local sources, both written and oral, analysed against the rather scanty existing literature on this period. Alemseged Tesfai refocuses the narrative on the actions, reactions and expectations of a relatively small nation, in both size and population, as it set out to right an international wrong, imposed by the Great Powers of the day.

Reviews

‘For too long, the telling of Eritrea’s pre-independence history was largely stripped of Eritrean voices, insights and agency. In these pages, Alemseged Tesfai fills that lacuna and corrects that imbalance. This scholar, playwright, novelist and former resistance fighter has done global history a massive service, probing a key chapter in his country’s history in his usual succinct, accessible writing style. The culmination of a lifetime’s work, this book is a towering achievement.’ — Michela Wrong, journalist and author of I Didn’t Do It For You and Borderlines

‘Often it’s so hard for writers on African history to untangle complicated legacies without falling into bias, even if unconsciously. Tesfai has surmounted these obstacles to produce an account of Eritrea’s narrative that is both enlightening and exciting. This will in my view become the authoritative account against which all that follow must be measured.’ — Giles Foden, author of The Last King of Scotland; Zanzibar; and Freight Dogs

‘In his characteristically engaging style, Tesfai provides a fascinating intervention on the thorny history of Eritrean nationalism, ensuring that the impeccably well-researched stories and struggles of its Eritrean protagonists rightfully lie at its centre.’ — Georgia Cole, Chancellor’s Fellow, University of Edinburgh

‘Eritrea’s war veteran, scholar and author Alemseged Tesfai has skilfully written an exceptionally original and comprehensive book, covering Eritrean politics during the two critical decades immediately preceding the Eritrean war of independence.’ — Gebre Hiwet Tesfagiorgis, Director of Institutional Research Emeritus, Iowa State University

‘This extraordinarily detailed insider history of the twenty years that led up to Eritrea’s liberation war is set to be the authoritative text on the political machinations, internal and international, that shaped a nation.’ — Jane Plastow, Professor, Centre for African Studies, University of Leeds

‘Tesfai, Eritrean writer par excellence, has masterfully delivered an authoritative history of Eritrea during the turbulent 1940s-60s. Essential reading for anyone interested in Eritrea and the Horn during this period as well as the present.’ — Awet Tewelde Weldemichael, Professor and Queen’s National Scholar, Queen’s University

Author(s)

Alemseged Tesfai is a lawyer and historian. Born in 1944 in the southern Eritrean town of Adi Quala, he is also the country’s premier playwright. His drama The Other War was the first Eritrean play ever published, and the first to be translated into English.