Preface to the Second Edition

Summary

Since its publication in 1991, A History of Modern Ethiopia (1855-1974) has had a gratifyingly favourable reception. It has managed to capture a wide readership and its impact both inside and outside Ethiopia has far exceeded my expectations. The academic reviews have also been generally encouraging. A recurrent source of disappointment has been, however, the fact that the story stops in 1974. This new edition, which brings the narrative to 1991, has been prepared primarily to address that concern.

‘Contemporary history’ is a treacherous ground and historians generally fear to tread it. In the preface to the first edition of the book, I justified the terminal date on the ground that 'the time for a dispassionate and documented historical analysis of those occurrences [i.e. of the period 1974-1991] has not yet arrived\ Those two impediments exist now to a much lesser degree than when the book was first written. Now that Darg rule is over, a requiem of that past has become possible. Although Darg officials are still on trial, the passion of the revolutionary years has subsided considerably. Moreover, in addition to the many secondary works that have been written on the period, we have also seen a sizeable number of testimonials by active participants of the period. Chapter 6, which is the major innovation of this new edition, has now been made possible because of these developments.

Yet, the chapter can not be anything but a synopsis of that complex period. While the importance of that period certainly merits wider treatment and the wealth of data invites it, I have striven as much as possible to maintain the balance of the whole book. After all, the revolutionary period lasted only seventeen years, a small fraction in a narrative that has the span of a century and a half. Revisiting the manuscript has also enabled me to rectify minor errors pointed out by the reviewers as well as to attune certain phrases to the contemporary setting.