Now in paperback. A survey of the development of the Eritrean independence movement from the 1970s when victories were won against the backing of the USA to the 1980s and 90s when the Soviet backed Dergue was finally routed. Includes a new afterword on post-war transition. Index, notes, maps, refs, 340pp, USA. RED SEA PRESS.

Unlocks the ancient mysteries of the northern Horn long obscured by a dominant focus on other regions and a long liberation struggle that prevented archaeological inquiry for nearly four decades. Examines for the first time the early history of Eritrea from approximately 100,000 years ago up to 400 years before colonialism. A sweeping treatment of some of the most important archaeological remains in the ancient African world, this volume draws on ground-breaking research by young Eritrean scholars as well as American, British, and German researchers. Classical era sites such as Qohaito, Matara, Keskese, and Adulis are discussed within the broader setting of other ancient places in Eritrea and the Horn, with the conclusion that local developments far outweighed foreign influences from places such as the kingdom of Saba in today's Yemen. Index, apps, bib, maps, b/w illus, col photos, 464pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.

Bringing together original, contemporary ethnographic research on the Northeast African state of Eritrea, this book shows how biopolitics - the state-led deployment of disciplinary technologies on individuals and population groups - is assuming particular forms in the twenty-first century. Once hailed as the African country that works, Eritrea’s apparently successful post-independence development has since lapsed into economic crisis and severe human rights violations. This is due not only to the border war with Ethiopia that began in 1998, but is also the result of discernible tendencies in the high modernist style of social mobilization for development first adopted by the Eritrean government during the liberation struggle (1961-1991) and later carried into the post-independence era. Index, bib, 236pp, UK. BERGHAHN BOOKS.

Using the issues of blood feuds, land tenure, gender relations and female genital mutilation, the authors look at the Eritrean legal system, and how it is ill-equipped to deal with these disputes in a modern context when both state, traditional and religious laws are equally prevalent. Index, bib, notes, gloss, xvi, 353pp, USA. INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Companion volume to Taking on the Superpowers, which covered the 1976-1982 period in Eritrea. This volume collects Connell's writing in the subsequent period, each section with a contextualizing prologue. Articles divided into Famine (1983-1987), Final Victory (1988-1991), Building the Nation (1991-1998) and Renewed War (1998-2002). Apps, map, li, 970pp, USA. RED SEA PRESS.

Traces the history of the Eritrean legal culture through successive political transitions, starting with the customary laws of the peoples living in the region that became Eritrea, through the periods of Italian and British colonization and then the absorption into Ethiopia, before a final section on the post 1991 period. Index, bib, 256pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.

In 2001, after a devastating war with Ethiopia, a huge debate erupted within Eritrea on government policy. This book revisits that debate through interviews with five critics top government officials and former liberation movement leaders shortly before they disappeared into the Eritrean gulag. As these conversations reveal, the speakers knew that they faced arrest and indefinite detention. This book not only opens a critical window onto that seminal moment, it also signals the persistent dream of an elusive democratic future. Apps, 212pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.

2005 1569022356 Paperback

Argues that Eritrea, as the home of nine ethno-linguistic and multi-faith groups, has the potential ingredients of lethal identity-based conflicts. However, in spite of its potentially conflict-prone social structure, there have never been in the country's history generalized ethnic or faith-based violent conflicts; save the limited skirmishes that took place in Asmara in February 1950 between the Youth of the Muslim League and the youth of the Unionist Party. The civil wars between the ELF and EPLF during the first half and late 1970s and early 1980s had nothing or little to do with ethnicity or religion. In spite of their appearances, not only were these aberra-tional events limited to diehard partisan elements, but also both events were rejected and condemned by the civilian population. The reason why the civilian populations are never drawn into sectarian conflicts is because they are endowed with rich stock of social capital. This promotes social trust, norms of reciprocity and cooperation, mutual respect, tolerance and empathy across the social cleavages of faith and ethnicity. These social resources underpin the livelihood systems of the communities that inhabit the different ecological zones. Without such resources, the war of independence against sub-Saharan Africa's second largest army would have most probably failed. Index, bib, notes, 450pp, USA. RED SEA PRESS.

Exhaustive, thematically organized overview. It examines Eritrean geography, the history of Eritrea since the ancient period, and the government, politics, economy, society, cultures, and people of the modern nation. Though based largely on the documentary record, the book also recognizes the value of oral history among the people of Eritrea and incorporates that history as well. Leading sources are quoted at length to provide analysis and perspective. 424pp, USA. ABC-CLIO.

Eritrean independence and the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front (now the Peoples Front for Democracy and Justice) were an international cause célèbre during the 1980s. Eritrea was the first new African nation to gain independence in the post-colonial period and appeared to be opening up a new path in African politics. But the promise of the revolution was soon betrayed by the outbreak of war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the PFDJs increasingly repressive domestic policies, its mismanagement of the country’s economy, and its hostile relations with its neighbours. There has been relatively little research on the economic aspects of Eritrea’s current situation and its future viability as a nation. Kibreab’s detailed analysis of the failure of the PFDJs political and economic policies is one of the main strengths of this book. 448pp, UK. JAMES CURREY PUBLISHERS.

A study of the development and success of Eritrean nationalist movements from 1941-1993: the context in which they won independence, and their new state. Index, notes, bib, maps, xvi, 198pp, UK. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Essays in volume 3, number 10 include Housing Finance in Eritrea; Reintegrating Ex fighters in Post Conflict Eritrea and The Eritrean Constitutional Process. 196pp, USA. RED SEA PRESS,

Volume 3, Number 2: Special Issue Eritrea & Ethiopia, From Conflict to Cooperation to Conflict. Essays include Eritrea and Yohannes IV of Abyssinia; A Study of the Evolution of the Eritrean Ethiopian Border Through Treaties and Official Maps; Some Latent Factors in the Ethio Eritrean Conflict; Mass Expulsion of Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean Origin from Ethiopia and Human Rights Violations; Approaches to Resolve the Conflict Between Eritrea and Ethiopia. 241pp, USA. RED SEA PRESS,

1999 NO ISBN Paperback

Starting from the period prior to 1890, the author looks at the impact of various past administrations and divisions both social and religious on the causes of war in the region. Notes, bib, maps, 153pp, IRAQ.

1992 Paperback

There are few countries as misunderstood, or even as unknown, as Eritrea. The beleaguered nation encapsulates some of the region's most pressing issues: it has an undemocratic power structure, a low level of socio-economic development, a highly militarized political system given increasingly to armed adventurism, and the tendency to disregard international opinion in the search for local solutions. Yet Eritrea is becoming increasingly important to the stability of sub-Saharan Africa. This volume brings together the insights of international analysts and scholars in an effort to understand the nature of Eritrea's foreign relations, both regionally and in the wider international arena. 166pp, UK. CHATHAM HOUSE.

An account of the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia from the Invasion of Ethiopia in 1998 to the cease fire of June 2000. The author analyses the political factors on both sides of the conflict and the deeply rooted reasons for military action. Notes, xi, 290pp, ETHIOPIA. SHAMA BOOKS.

2001 1931253064 Paperback

Now in paperback. Citically acclaimed journalist and writer Michela Wrong describes the recent history of Eritrea as contested territory among western nations _ Italy, Britain, the USA and Russia all used the country. Part_travelogue, part biography of a country, this is a riveting account of colonialism and its effects on present_day Eritrea. New edition includes an interview with the author and a list of her top ten favourite African books. Index, notes, glossary, chronology, b/w photographs, maps, xiii, 432pp, UK. HARPER PERENNIAL.

Written by the chairman of the Constitutional Commission of Eritrea, this volume analyses the process of drafting and implementing Eritrea's first constitution as a sovereign people. Index, xxvi, 325pp, USA. RED SEA PRESS.

Now in paperback. Hannah Pool was adopted from an orphanage in Eritrea in 1974 and came to England, via Sudan and Norway, with her white adoptive father six years later. Then a brother she never suspected she had wrote to her from Eritrea. Hannah hid the letter away and only ten years after receiving it, she decided to track down her surviving Eritrean family. Her journey takes her far beyond her comfort zone and face to face with the harsh realities of a life that could so easily have been her own. Map, genealogy, 256pp UK. PENGUIN BOOKS.

This study addresses repatriation and reintegration and how they affect both the stayee communities to which refugees are repatriated as well as the returnees themselves. Of particular importance to this study is what connects or reconnects Eritrean refugees to their communities of origin in Gash Barka as they contemplated a possible or actual repatriation. The study also considers what happens during resettlement and reintegration, not only to returnees but also to stayee societies in Gash Barka, and examines whether the notion that culture is rooted in particular geographic places implies that uprooted Eritrean refugees somehow have lost their culture. 302pp, ETHIOPIA. OSSREA.

In the late nineteenth century, the port of Massawa on the Red Sea was a thriving, vibrant, multiethnic commercial hub. This book tells the story of how Massawa rose to prominence as one of Northeast Africa's most important shipping centres, reconstructing the social, material, religious, and cultural history of this mercantile community in a period of sweeping change. By revealing the dynamic processes at play, this book provides insight into the development of the Horn of Africa that extends beyond borders and boundaries, nations and nationalism. 400pp, USA. INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Looks at the most dynamic new social movements in four countries and examines how they are challenging and enriching the strategic vision of leading political par-ties, even as they redefine the nature of power and the struggle to achieve it. Notes, bib, index, xxvi, 459pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.

Through a combination of ethnography and creative exposition, anthropologist Tricia Redeker Hepner recounts the experiences of Eritreans in their homeland and in the United States, illuminating the lives of men and women who participated in the independence movement. Highlighting both the personal and institutional dimensions of political transformation and struggle, the book provides insight into how the transnational nature of the Eritrean revolution shaped diaspora communities and the nation-state, enhancing authoritarian rule while also inspiring resistance movements for democratization and human rights. 320pp, USA. UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS.

Explores the potentials, achievements and challenges facing Eritrea in its efforts to construct a viable state after it became independent in 1991(de facto) and 1993 (de jure). It also examines the post-liberation experience of state building focusing on the institutionalisation, bureaucratisation and democratisation of state organs. 308pp, UK. ADONIS & ABBEY.

The first volume in a two volume anthology collecting Dan Connell's writings. Since 1976 he has reported from Eritrea describing the radical social transformations underway in guerrilla held areas, the near defeat of Ethiopia's American backed army, the intervention of the Soviet Union, the liberation movement's strategic retreat and the onset of famine. This collection of journalism recounts the experience of Eritrea's protracted independence war and its post liberation transition. Introduction by Basil Davidson. lviii, 550pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.

Chronicles the country's armed struggle for independence from the perspective of an Eritrean war surgeon. Offering graphic eyewitness testimony of the massive and unrelenting sacrifice of human lives that the war demanded, Tekeste Fekadu tells the story of a physician's war to save them, as the vastly outnumbered Eritrean forces fought six, large-scale Ethiopian military offensives with precious few resources. He established what was unprecedented on any previous African battlefield: effective and compassionate medical care, whether it required the setting up or tearing down of hospitals on the frontlines or the most delicate surgery and intensive care in trenches and underground wards under bombardment. 364pp, ERITREA. HDRI Publishers.

In the 1990s, after 30 years of war with neighbouring Ethiopia, Eritrea won its independence and embarked on the monumental task of reconstruction. At the heart of this effort was the quest of hundreds of thousands of returning refugees and demobilised soldiers who hoped to make new lives for themselves and their families. This book examines, through first-hand accounts, the obstacles these returnees, mainly women, faced. He also looks at the role of the new government and aid organisations in the process, and explores how gender issues had an impact. Index, bib, apps, charts, 247pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.

Volume two in Bereket Habte Selassie's memoir continues where THE CROWN AND THE PEN (Africa World Press, 2007) left off. Through historical and political analyses, Selassie lays bare the hidden - and not so hidden - elements that led to Eritrea's descent from a stellar model of democracy to a tragic abyss of dictatorship and isolation. 326pp, USA. RED SEA PRESS.