I live in Norway, and Africa's Horn is far from my everyday life. I have travelled several times to Eritrea though, and have been searching for guide books from the country. When I went to Eritrea last fall it was with great pleasure I bought the LP book by Frances Linzee Gordon, Ethiopia, Eritrea & Djibouti.

The book is one of the best LP books I've read. The writing is clearly, and it gives us good insight in history, facts, geography, and so on. I have read parts of the book about all three countries, but the Eritrean part is the only one I have actuallu used when travelling.

The books has some very good pictures and maps, and give alot of up to date information. My favorite part is the part about Asmara's architecture, "Asmara, or Piccola Roma, soon came to epitomise the new philosophy: it was not just beautiful, but was well planned, well built and, above all, functiomal. The book is a good guide to use when you plan your travel ahead, and is even better when you actually are there and need or want information.

An extra benefit of the book is the small notes you find alot of, giving interesting information. Reading these notes makes your travel alot more special.

When I travel I use my guidebooks as kind of diaries. I write down restaurants I visit, hotel I stay at, interesting places I see and so on. And this book is filled with my writings almost on all pages. Gordon has seen it all, and gives very useful information about a very interesting, though little known country.

Britt Arnhild Lindland

As a Lonely Planet author, I'd like to echo the words of other reviewers of this book. This is clearly Lonely Planet's best title - the writing is clear, concise and informative, the asides are entertaining, the tone is objective yet engaging, and Frances Linzee Gordon's photos are nothing short of spectacular. Congratulations, Frances - you've produced a winner!

A recent front page article in the New York Times on the Lalibela churches in northern Ethiopia sent me running for my LP copy of this book. I was most pleasantly surprised to find over a dozen pages of detailed information on this incredible center of early Christianity. F. Linzee-Gordon's first hand account of a visit to the churches provided a most informative background lacking in the NY Times article. Well done!

One of the greatest Ethio-Eritrean history books I have ever read. I am still not sure if Tekeste Negash is Ethiopian or Eritrean (or both) but never mind! He's redefined what it means to be objective.

The book is an exceptional experience in the way it gives extensive bibliography. Interestingly, Prof. Negash spends most of the time giving out footnoted facts than his perceptions/analysis of the past, but he does an excellent job at sequencing the facts in such a way that paints a focussed picture to the reader. He says his views without actually saying them, but through a series of facts, which makes a richer readship.

The book is laden with names, acronyms, dates and figures, but it still makes an easy read. For those interested in detailed facts and further reading, it has extensive indices in the end, and numerous footnotes on every page.

One of the most amazing moments is the end of this book, which basically predicated the 1998-2000 war one year ahead. The book was published in 1997. I read the book in 1999, but i remember the moment when i first heard about the warm-up bombing tag between the two countries in 1998. I was struck speechless by news I could have sworn unfathomable. However, his understanding was unline any other, I have the more respect for him for that.

He illustrates mistakes made on both sides. He shows their follies and justifications indiscriminately. In the end, like one reader already pointed out, the reader will just end up questioning politics and admiring ethio/eriteran civilians, their patience and tolerance of the 40-something year madness, and admiring them for coming out of it still with human values.

This book is a product of a person who does not know what he is saying. Please nobody should weast his time reading this ethiopist ideas.

Excellent presentation. The book focuses more on passing on facts (excelent footnotes and appendix) to the reader than giving analysis of events and their significance from the author's point of view. It definitely sheds a new perspective of the beginning of the Ethio-Eritrean war. There is not much about TPLF, but there's an interesting coverage of rise and fall of ELF and the rise of EPLF. As strange as it may sound, the book also makes you appreciate that the war was carried out as it was. It makes you appreciate the Ethio-Eritrean civil society.

I can't wait to share this book with my student and his mother from Eritrea. Most of the time I have to find books on Ethiopia which doesn't sit well with mom even though she understands the difficulty. I also recently purchased a mancala board so we can play that game after we read the book. Mancala has been promoted to teach math and cooperative learning social skills.

Jane Kurtz has once again taken the raw material of the oral tradition and translated it to print, without losing the "feel" of a story told face to face. Tekleh, armed with a plaything that was designed to keep him out of trouble, finds himself trading it and each new item he receives, to stay out of trouble. As is traditional in such a circular tale, he ends where he began.

For those who wish to venture into the world of telling a story without the book, this is one story that will help you avoid "trouble" as you retell the tale. For those who appreciate the appeal of an illustrated tale, the pictures are just enough to delight, but will allow the reader/listener their imagination at the same time.

TROUBLE is a circular story in the best tradition of folkloric literature. Young Tekleh is always in the company of trouble as he tends his goats in the Eritrean countryside. He loses the gebata board, which his father has made for him to keep him away from trouble, to a group of traders. Yet another board is cleverly regained, in a circular fashion, by the end of the book. Kurtz's rich imagery enlivens the story as do Bernhard's sprightly folk art illustrations. With an ever changing palette, she tells her own small jokes in the pictures. A wonderful, child-centered story kids will ask for again and again

Most detailed cartography of Eritrea I have seen so far.
It has been a lot of help to find my way around Eritrea.
Eritrea, specially the capital Asmara is one of the hidden gems in the world.

I advice any one to visit. I found it to be one of the calmest, friendliest and safest countries I visited.

I came new to this subject but became rivetted by Pateman's engaged and engaging style. He writes in an easily, understandable but profound way about one of the most significant struggles for nationhood in the XX century. He covers many centuries of history but convinces me that Eritrea is indeed a special place. An enduring sense of nationhood developed during the liberation struggle a sense which has deepened during the cowardly Ethiopian attacks of the last few months. Pateman has helped me understand why the Eritreans have survived and why thay may become very important actors in Africa in the next century.

Very informative. It gave me much insight into the rich history of Eritrea and its people. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the passion for freedom.

A very methodical and objective look at the roots of one of the most heated, longest, bitter, and sadly unnoticed wars of our time. The author shows the context through scholarly research of documents and statements that proceeded the eruption of the roof of Northeast Africa, now Eritrea and Ethiopia. I believe it is a gem of objective refrence in an often emotionally charged field.

In what appears to be the first and only book ever by a Mottern, this dispels, in convincing fashion, that ugly stereotype that we can't reed or right

There's not much material out there on Africa's longest running civil war, which is depressing for newcomers to the history of this conflict. Of what does exist, Connell's narrative is a valuable look into life with the Eritrean rebels seeking to split from a brutish Ethiopian state. In this book we find him getting strafed by Ethiopian jets, suffering through long desert hikes behind the lines, and reporting on the refugee situation. It is a fascinating look at the politics of rebel Eritrea and the collateral damage of warfare in the Horn of Africa.

As he states at the beginning, Connell is sympathetic to the EPLF (Eritrean Popular Liberation Front). So other than high-level news reports, you don't get much consideration of what's going on outside rebel(EPLF)-occupied Eritrea. The account is quite one-sided, even against the other rebel groups operating in Eritrea. The EPLF was a Marxist-oriented revolutionary movement from the beginning. Much of the book is devoted to educating the reader on the EPLF's great progress in pulling off land reforms, sharing Maoist "political education" with the rural population, and teaching the worker exploitation inherent in capitalism. All of which can be skimmed and discarded, but it takes away from the main strength of the book: that he was one of only a few reporters on the ground to witness much of Africa's most bizarre conflict. I wanted to learn more about the offensives, why the Soviets got involved, and what was going on from a big picture level. Reading endless detail about EPLF comrades setting up farm cooperatives in rural villages was not terribly exciting.

The definitive book on the Ethiopian/Eritrean war has not yet been written. But Connell's "Against All Odds" will give you insight into the struggles of the main leftist guerrilla group and their experience between 1977-1991.

PS- For war buffs, this book is a little light on its treatment of the battles and the maps included reveal few details.

This was the first book that i bought one a recent trip to Eritrea and although it may be bias in favor of Eritrea, and the EPLF it is rightly so to counter act all of the Eithiopian propraganda that the west gets. this is a first hand acount of what the author saw for himself during the 30 year conflict with Ethiopia. it is a great read with a lot of the authors own feeligs and stories. this is a great way to get away from the dry military history of, this tank went there, the army moved there, this division had this big gun here style. I bet if you read this book you will not be able to explain african politics in short little articals like one would find in newspapers and weeklys. the reader will find that the world and africa are more compicated then we like to belive, and that africans, and in this case Eritreans can make a nation with out the heavy hand of western help.

This is an excellent book:I recommend it for anybody interested in history of the Eritrean struggle.This book, written by an author who, in the process had a near death experience( Missed by a fighter jet!!) ,offers a very realistic and indepth look at the longest civil war in Africa.It happens to be one of the few books wriiten about a traumatic and tragic time for the people of Eritrea. The author ,a journalist,whose intention was to cover Africa from Cairo to Johannesburg was caught up in development in Addis Ababa(Ethiopian capital).For the next couple of decades has practically been part of the struggle.He shares his experience and insigths in this book. The book begins with a raid into Asmara (Eritrean capiltal)by the then guerrila figthers.Then the reader is taken deep into rebel territory in the sahel mountains for an upclose and personal with the "tegadelti" liberation fighters. It gives a very vivid account several battles and the descrptions of them by both rank and file guerrilas and the highest commanders. You will meet in the book courageous souls who survived a thousand mile subsea level trek.You will meet...Fana,stereotypcal Eritrean highlander woman who was just as rebelious to tyranny as the ones actually figting it out with an AK47. The book explores the reasons behind the conflict (eventhougth not as detailed as the struggle itself).It presents a decent view of the oppossing sides. It is one of the most exciting and educational books I have ever read.

Although I'm very interested in Eritrea, I found this book a duty rather than a pleasure. That's probably just a personal preference. I found the author a bit predictable and didn't find myself caring enough about her, despite her situation.

I have used this powerful book in my college class on African politics, and found it a great way to get my (female) students in the U.S. engaged in what might seem to them otherwise to be a very distant topic. I think it could also be used for advanced high school classes, or for other college classes on gender or national self-determination. Ms. Tesfagiorgis has given us an eloquent narrative of not just Eritrea's struggle, but of the strength of which human beings are capable in the most difficult of circumstances. My only criticism is that the proofreading by the editor could have been more careful; this is certainly not the fault of the author.

Throughout this beautifully written book is woven the heart-wrenching story of a nation and a people who have struggled for decades in order to 'breath the air of freedom'. A nation that has sacrificed its precious daughters and sons in order to have the right to self-determination. Abeba Tesfagiorgis includes in her book her story of imprisionment,having to allow her teenage children to make their decisions as strong Eritrean women despite her breaking heart upon having to come to terms with their mortality and then becoming a refugee with her two younger daughters and her husband. While reading this, I was also able to get an invaluable glimpse of the personal stories of various Eritrean women who came from differnt socio-economic backgrounds, different age groups, different religions and different parts of Eritrea. Like most people who have read this book, I couldn't stop the tears from falling and my heart from aching for the personal stories within the story of this small nation. I recommend this book to anyone who would like to get a glimple of the personal side of the Eritrean story and the triumph of the human spirit.