Review by Choice

by T. Natsoulas, University of Toledo

Filling a void in the study of Africa in general and of Ethiopia in particular, Zewde (Univ. of Addis Ababa) provides fresh insights into the intellectual development of Ethiopia during the first half of the 20th century.

Very little has been written on African intellectual histon, and almost nothing on Ethiopian intellectuals. Through a series of biographical sketches, the author has constructed the evolution of a reformist and progressive class and its contribution to the rapid changes that Ethiopia went through in the years before WW II.

This class joined in the articulation and solution of various issues that modern Ethiopia grappled with during its formative years, providing the seeds for the political and social reforms that were put into effect as Ethiopia entered the world arena.

Zewde demonstrates how this class interrelated with the political leadership and the social and economic elite in an effort to bring about change. Intellectuals were loyal to the monarchy, which they, considered the vehicle for change, but were decimated during the Italian occupation; a new and more revolutionary group emerged after the war.

This book is well written and contains an extensive bibliography and a fine index. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

Choice