Ethiopia: Transition and Development in the Horn of Africa (review)

Book Reviews Ethiopia: Transition and Development in the Horn ofAfrica Mulatu Wubneh and Yohannis Abate Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1988. 224 pp. Wubneh and Abate have written a survey book providing useful review information about Ethiopia during and after the Haile Sellassie era. The authors discuss a wide range of topics supplying clear illustrations of tables , diagrams, figures, maps, and photographs. The book is divided into seven chapters, the first and fifth chapters providing background information about geography, state, population, culture and society of Ethiopia. The information in chapter five should have immediately followed chapter one to provide uninterrupted flow of background information; but this is not terribly important. The remaining chapters discuss opposition to imperial rule, military rule, economy, international relations and prospects for change and stability. The authors provide a summary of the main points at the end of each chapter, where they also make their own observations. Regarding the problem of transition and development in Ethiopia, the book subscribes to existing explanations that ascribe Ethiopia's problems to drought, policy excesses and failures, optimistic targets, limited resources, and unfavorable political climate.©Northeast African Studies (ISSN 0740-9133) Vol. 2, No. 1 (New Series) 1995, pp. 181-187 181 182 Book Reviews The authors believe that "Ethiopia's socialism has important achievements to its credit (literacy campaign, land reform, bureaucratic reorganization , etc.) and will be a viable system if the government creates a popular foundation for institutional change, removes fear and repression , resolves the question of nationalities, creates a genuine representative government and raises the standard of living of the people." However, the authors fail to see that these reform proposals are modernization imperatives with which socialism or a socialist government is incompatible. In general, the book is a welcome addition to survey books on Ethiopia . It can be a valuable source of information for students of Ethiopia and others who are interested in Ethiopia. Daniel Teferra Ferris State University A History ofModern Ethiopia 1855-1974 Bahru Zewde London, Athens and Addis Ababa: James Currey, Ohio University Press and Addis Ababa University Press, 1991. 244 pp. + ? This book serves its purpose well for its intended audience—university undergraduates and generalists. It is an excellent synthesis of the scholarly work that has been produced over the last 30 years, not all of it published. Primarily a political history, it does drift off occasionally to tie in social and economic events. Not unexpectedly, Bahru draws heavily on the works of Sven Rubenson (to whom he extends greatest gratitude ), Zewde Gabre Sellassie, and Harold Marcus (all of whom have produced major political and/or biographical works on the period) in addition to a broad array of lesser known scholars and students, some curiously unacknowledged. Bahru brings them all together into a broadsweeping , well-focused, and readable work, one which the field has greatly needed. For Bahru, modern Ethiopia is defined as the time period from Emperor Tewodros II on. He chooses to stop with the deposition of Haile Sellassie I in 1974, and thus his work becomes a study of leadership in ...