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 Africa's best espresso and worst rail service. Michela Wrong brilliantly reveals the contradictions and comedy, past and present, of Eritrea. Just as the beat of a butterfly's 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 and occupation. It has weathered the world's longest-running guerrilla war, and 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 and the Soviet Union used it as a pawn in a proxy war. Michela Wrong reveals the breathtaking abuses this tiny nation has suffered and, with the sharp eye for detail that was the hallmark of her account of Mobutu's 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, and a chemist who arranged the heist of his own laboratory. An arresting blend of travelogue and history, 'I Didn't Do It For You' pierces the dark heart of our colonial history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #739306 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 448 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Much like Wrong's In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz (2001), covering the reign of Zaire's brutal dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, this book taps at the world's conscience, asking who is to blame for the suffering and neglect of postcolonial African states; it takes Eritrea as case study—and victim. A veteran Africa correspondent for the Financial Times, Wrong writes in a pointedly digressive style full of narrative side roads that accommodate a daunting level of geographical and historical detail. Historical highlights include a colorful profile of the late 19th-century writer and Italian parliamentarian Ferdinando Marini that draws on his extensive memoirs about his tenure as the first civil governor of the region as an Italian colony. The early 1960s conflict, occupation and independence of this small neighbor to Ethiopia also make for a terrible, gripping story, including border disputes and bloody war with Ethiopia. A complicated history so punctuated with violence is not exactly easy to read about, but the author's extraordinary grasp of the postcolonial psyche and tormented national identity of this country makes it fascinating. Agent, Joy Harris.(June 14)
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Review
“If you want to understand the world...I DIDN’T DO IT FOR YOU provides the best starting point.” (The Progressive )

“Contemporary history on the grand scale. I was entertained, informed and angered . . . A splendid achievement.” (John le Carré )

“Vivid, penetrating, wonderfully detailed. Michela Wrong...has excavated the very heart and soul of the Eritrean people and their country.” (Aminatta Forna, author of THE DEVIL THAT DANCED ON WATER )

“Engrossing, vividly written in the style of the best thrillers...It should become the standard work on the region.” (Anthony Sampson, author of MANDELA: The Authorized Biography )

“A gripping political thriller.” (Monica Ali, author of BRICK LANE )

“A fascinating and tragic story . . . Wrong’s account [is] gripping.” (Daily Telegraph (London) )

“With rich prose and the passion she brings to the subject of [Eritrea’s] independence... Wrong provides a very readable journalistic.” (Los Angeles Times )

“Engaging history . . . A vivid story of a nation repeatedly trampled by foreign powers until it won its independence.” (New York Times Book Review )

“Eloquent and impassioned . . . [A] splendid account of modern Eritrean history . . . Scrupulous and honest.” (New York Times )

“Wrong’s...original research is more illuminating, her eye more observant, her writing far more wry and witty.” (The Economist )

“A highly readable, well-researched depiction of the region’s serial exploitation by a parade of foreign predators.” (Washington Post Book World )

“An engaging read... Devastating detail... This is probably the best book that could be written about Eritrea.” (Nation )

About the Author
Michela Wrong has been a foreign correspondent since joining Reuters after University and has worked extensively in Africa for the BBC and has also worked for the Sunday Times. She now writes for the Financial Times