I Didnt Do It For You

Product Description

One small East African country embodies the battered history of the continent: patronised by colonialists riven by civil war confused by Cold War manoeuvring proud colorful with Africas best espresso & worst rail service. Michela Wrong brilliantly reveals the contradictions & comedy past & present of Eritrea. Just as the beat of a butterflys wings is said to cause hurricanes on the other side of the world so the affairs of tiny Eritrea reverberate onto the agenda of superpower strategists. This new book on Africa is from the author of the critically acclaimed In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz. Eritrea is a little-known country scarred by decades of conflict & occupation. It has weathered the worlds longest-running guerrilla war & the dogged determination that secured victory against Ethiopia its giant neighbour is woven into the national psyche. Fascist Italy wanted Eritrea as the springboard for a new racially-pure Roman empire Britain sold off its industry for scrap the US needed headquarters for its state-of-the-art spy station & the Soviet Union used it as a pawn in a proxy war. Michela Wrong reveals the breathtaking abuses this tiny nation has suffered & with the sharp eye for detail that was the hallmark of her account of Mobutus Congo she tells the story of colonialism itself. Along the way we meet a formidable Emperor a guerrilla fighter who taught himself French cuisine in the bush & a chemist who arranged the heist of his own laboratory. An arresting blend of travelogue & history I Didnt Do It For You pierces the dark heart of our colonial history.