The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 1844-1913
by Harold G. Marcus

Of all the major African countries only Ethiopia successfully defeated late nineteenth-century European imperialism. To a considerable extent this was due to the political and military genius of Menelik II. This study of the Emperor’s long reign helps to explain Ethiopia’s survival; it also reveals Menelik as the man who earned through programs of expansion and modernization which led tot his creation of the Ethiopia of today. This is the most substantial contribution so far in an inexplicably neglected aspect of African history.