Eritrea: Even the Stones Are Burning by Roy Pateman

by Roy Pateman

Roy Pateman traces the Eritreans' response to Ethiopian occupation of their land and the origins of the war. He provides a survey of Eritrean history, with a special inside look at the military and other developments in the last two decades. Pateman examines the impact of U.S. foreign policy on the region and the people, the political ideologies of the independence movement, the tragic famine which took lens of thousands of lives, and the vision of the liberation fighters for a post-independence society. The book has been updated to provide readers with an insight into developments of the post-independence period.

Genres: Eritrea, Africa, History

Paperback

First published August 28, 1990

Reviews

[Valorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I worked with a person from this country and was fascinated by the history of this place I had never even heard of. I read this book to learn more and found it very interesting. The most illuminating thing that I learned from my co-worker was the far reaching affects of US foreign policy and the problems our arrogant meddling causes. For any who might not know, Ethiopia is a land locked country and has been trying to take over its neighbor Eritrea on the Red Sea for centuries. They are arch enemies. After WW II we handed Eritrea over to Ethiopia because they have always had a Christian/ Jewish connection with the west and were an ally. Eritrea then had to fight a 30 war to win their independence back. Ethiopia bombed them with US made bombs they got from Israel that Israel got from us. There is more to the story but thats the gist of it. I thought it very fascinating and informative, as well as enlightening.

[Henok Fesaha]

read it, Awesome

[Kevin Thomsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's good information buried under the bias and needless polemics and digressions into Marxism/nationalism theory.
Most annoying were ch 6 and 7, where he takes the most conservative possible estimates of foreign aid to the EPLF, and the wildest speculation on Israeli and American support to the Dergue. There's also 3 or 4 times he goes like "Unconfirmed estimates of the EPLA casualties were around 4,000 [97] , but it is doubtful if the casualties were half this number [no source]". Wildest of all he claims the EPLF was almost completely independently armed by captured Ethiopian weaponry.
Also "EPLA" and "EPLF" are used more or less interchangeably which is very confusing

[David Burns · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eritrea: Even the Stones Are Burning ** Read in Asmara, Eritrea (May 2023)