100 Best Ethiopia Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

Cutting for Stone

Abraham Verghese

5.0

A sweeping, emotionally riveting first novel—an enthralling family saga of Africa and America, doctors and patients, exile and home.

Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preter

Recommended by Barack Obama and Daniel Hamermesh.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

As a devoted reader, the president has been linked to a lengthy list of novels and poetry collections over the years. [source]

Daniel Hamermesh

This novel from a decade ago should be read by every American interested in immigration. While it deals with a lot of medical details, the essence of it is about urban life in developing countries and about the immigrant experience. It is both moving and thought-provoking. [source]

2

Beneath the Lion's Gaze

Maaza Mengiste

4.5

An epic tale of a father and two sons, of betrayals and loyalties, of a family unraveling in the wake of Ethiopia’s revolution.

This memorable, heartbreaking story opens in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1974, on the eve of a revolution. Yonas kneels in his mother’s prayer room, pleading to his god for an end to the violence that has wracked his family and country. His father, Hailu, a prominent doctor, ha

3

The Shadow King

Maaza Mengiste

4.5

A gripping novel set during Mussolini’s 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, The Shadow King takes us back to the first real conflict of World War II, casting light on the women soldiers who were left out of the historical record.

With the threat of Mussolini’s army looming, recently orphaned Hirut struggles to adapt to her new life as a maid in Kidane and his wife Aster’s household. Kidane, an officer in Em

Recommended by Mona Eltahawy.

Mona Eltahawy

@MaazaMengiste And the world rejoices that you gifted us your fantastic book! ❤️✊🏽💜 [source]

4

The Emperor

Ryszard Kapuscinski

4.5

Haile Selassie, King of Kings, Elect of God, Lion of Judah, His Most Puissant Majesty and Distinguished Highness the Emperor of Ethiopia, reigned from 1930 until he was overthrown by the army in 1974. While the fighting still raged, Ryszard Kapuscinski, Poland's leading foreign correspondent, traveled to Ethiopia to seek out and interview Selassie's servants and closest associates on how the Emper

5

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn

4.5

From two of our most fiercely moral voices, a passionate call to arms against our era’s most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world.

With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary women struggling there, among them a Cambodian teenager sold

Recommended by Emma Watson, Julia Enthoven, Mia Farrow, and 2 others.

Julia Enthoven

As for non-fiction, Half the Sky (about crimes against women, especially in the developing world) and Whatever it Takes (about the Harlem Children’s Zone and the work of Geoffrey Canada) both changed my world-view enormously, and I thought they were both super compelling. [source]

Mia Farrow

Women in so much of the world are doing so much of the labour without having any of the rights or reaping their share of the profits. [source]

Pierre Ferrari

One of the most powerful books I've ever read on #GenderEquality is Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by @NickKristof & @WuDunn: https://t.co/uj5rfxlmZm. Let's do more to support women in our daily lives! #WomenWednesday #SDGs [source]

6

There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children

Melissa Fay Greene

4.4

A novel of tragedy and hope set in AIDS-torn Ethiopia. When Haregwoin Teferra’s husband and daughter died within a few years of each other, her life is shattered and she becomes a recluse. But then a priest delivers an orphan to her door. The another, and another... and together they thrive.

The distinguished author of Praying for Sheetrock and two-time National Book award finalist puts a human fac

7

Notes from the Hyena's Belly: An Ethiopian Boyhood

Nega Mezlekia

4.4

Winner of the Governor General's Award
A Library Journal Best Book of 2001

Part autobiography and part social history, Notes from the Hyena's Belly offers an unforgettable portrait of Ethiopia, and of Africa, during the 1970s and '80s, an era of civil war, widespread famine, and mass execution. "We children lived like the donkey," Mezlekia remembers, "careful not to wander off the beaten trail and e

8

Infidel

Ayaan Hirsi Ali

4.4

One of today’s most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following the murder of Theo van Gogh by an Islamist who threatened that she would be next. She made headlines again when she was stripped of her citizenship and resigned from the Dutch Parliament.

Infidel shows the coming of age of this distinguished political superstar and champion

9

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears

Dinaw Mengestu

4.4

A haunting and powerful first novel that views the streets of Washington, D.C. and Addis Ababa through the eyes of Sepha who, seventeen years ago, fled Ethiopia during the Revolution, and now runs a failing convenience store in a poor African-American neighborhood in Washington. Published as The Beautiful Thing That Heaven Bears in the USA, Canada and Australia; and as Children of the Revolution i

10

Sweetness in the Belly

Camilla Gibb

4.4

Like Brick Lane and The Kite Runner, Camilla Gibb's widely praised new novel is a poignant and intensely atmospheric look beyond the stereotypes of Islam. After her hippie British parents are murdered, Lilly is raised at a Sufi shrine in Morocco. As a young woman she goes on pilgrimage to Harar, Ethiopia, where she teaches Qur'an to children and falls in love with an idealistic doctor. But even sw

11

My Life and Ethiopia's Progress: The Autobiography of Emperor Haile Sellassie I Volume One: 1892-1937

Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia

4.4

12

Yes, Chef

Marcus Samuelsson, Veronica Chambers

4.4

It begins with a simple ritual: Every Saturday afternoon, a boy who loves to cook walks to his grandmother’s house and helps her prepare a roast chicken for dinner. The grandmother is Swedish, a retired domestic. The boy is Ethiopian and adopted, and he will grow up to become the world-renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson. This book is his love letter to food and family in all its manifestations.

Marcu

13

Reception of Uwem Akpan's Say You're One of Them in Oprah Winfrey's Book Club

Uwem Akpan

4.3

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 1,0, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, language: English, abstract: In 2009, the debut book "Say You're One of Them" by the Nigerian author Uwem Akpan became a bestseller after being chosen by the American TV star Oprah Winfrey for her popular Book Club. The five short stories in the book are set in diffe

14

The Wife's Tale: A Personal History

Aida Edemariam

4.3

A hundred years ago, a girl was born in the northern Ethiopian city of Gondar. Before she was ten years old, Yetemegnu was married to a man two decades her senior, an ambitious poet-priest. Over the next century her world changed beyond recognition.

She witnessed Fascist invasion and occupation, Allied bombardment and exile from her city, the ascent and fall of Emperor Haile Selassie, revolution a

15

What is the What

Dave Eggers

4.3

This is the story of a man who, as a boy, was separated from his family in Sudan's brutal civil war; who trekked across Africa's punishing wilderness with thousands of other children; who survived aerial bombardment and attacks by militias and wild animals; who ate whatever he could find or nothing at all; who, as a boy, considered ending his life to end the suffering; and who eventually mad it to

Recommended by Barack Obama and Robert Eaglestone.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

As a devoted reader, the president has been linked to a lengthy list of novels and poetry collections over the years — he admits he enjoys a thriller. [source]

Robert Eaglestone

Eggers plays with the relationship between reality and fiction. What is the What might be thought of as containing chunks of reality [source]

16

The Hospital by the River

Catherine Hamlin, John Little

4.3

When gynecologists Catherine and Reg Hamlin left their home in Australia for Ethiopia, they never dreamed that they would establish what has been heralded as one of the most incredible medical programs in the modern world. But more than forty years later, the couple has operated on more than 20,000 women, most of whom suffer from obstetric fistula, a debilitating childbirth injury. In this awe-ins

17

The Shadow of the Sun

Ryszard Kapuscinski

4.3

In 1957, Ryszard Kapuscinski arrived in Africa to witness the beginning of the end of colonial rule as the first African correspondent of Poland's state newspaper. From the early days of independence in Ghana to the ongoing ethnic genocide in Rwanda, Kapuscinski has crisscrossed vast distances pursuing the swift, and often violent, events that followed liberation. Kapuscinski hitchhikes with carav

Recommended by Will Storr.

Will Storr

Once you discover Kapuściński, it’s a love affair for life. He’s such a beautiful writer. [source]

18

A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story

Linda Sue Park

4.2

A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about a girl in Sudan in 2008 and a boy in Sudan in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families a

19

Fire on the Mountain

Jane Kurtz, E.B. Lewis

4.2

Challenged by his master to spend a bitter-cold night alone in the mountains, an Ethiopian boy bets his future that he will succeed. And he does, warmed only by the sight of a distant fire. When his master refuses to recognize the boy's victory, the boy and his sister decide to beat the rich man at his own game.

20

All Our Names

Dinaw Mengestu

4.2

All Our Names is the story of two young men who come of age during an African revolution, drawn from the safe confines of the university campus into the intensifying clamor of the streets outside. But as the line between idealism and violence becomes increasingly blurred, the friends are driven apart—one into the deepest peril, as the movement gathers inexorable force, and the other into the safet

21

Black Dove White Raven

Elizabeth Wein

4.2

A story of survival, subterfuge, espionage, and identity.

Emilia and Teo's lives changed in a fiery, terrifying instant when a bird strike brought down the plane their stunt pilot mothers were flying. Teo's mother died immediately, but Em's survived, determined to raise Teo according to his late mother's wishes—in a place where he won't be discriminated against because of the color of his skin. But

22

A History of Modern Ethiopia, 1855–1991: Second Edition

Bahru Zewde

4.2

Bounded by Sudan to the west and north, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the southeast, and Eritrea and Djibouti to the northeast, Ethiopia is a pivotal country in the geopolitics of the region. Yet it is important to understand this ancient and often splintered country in its own right.

In A History of Modern Ethiopia, Bahru Zewde, one of Ethiopia's leading historians, provides a compact and compre

23

Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law

Haben Girma

4.2

The incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing journey from isolation to the world stage.

Haben grew up spending summers with her family in the enchanting Eritrean city of Asmara. There, she discovered courage as she faced off against a bull she couldn't see, and found in herself an abiding strength as she absorbed her parents' harro

Recommended by Randy Bryce.

Randy Bryce

Great book. Great inspiration! https://t.co/IoX14rwU3w [source]

24

Ethiopia and the Origin of Civilization

John G. Jackson

4.2

2017 Reprint of 1939 Edition. This essay is an effort to highlight the influence of Ethiopia in the history of Civilization. It also devotes consider time to suggesting that Ethiopia's contribution has been either misunderstood or intentionally ignored by mainstream historians and scholars. Jackson culls research from Archaeology, Comparative Religion, History and Classical Antiquity to propose th

25

In Ethiopia with a Mule

Dervla Murphy

4.2

Spurred on by romantic childhood memories of names such as Prester John, the Queen of Sheba and the Lion of Judah, and by a vision of Ethiopia as beautiful, dangerous and mysterious, Dervla Murphy set out on a hazardous trek through the Ethiopian highlands. She travelled against official advice and, during the gruelling journey, she was robbed three times. Yet the Ethiopians were usually hospitabl

26

No Biking in the House Without a Helmet

Melissa Fay Greene

4.2

A loving portrait of a unique twenty first-century family with nine children as it wobbles between disaster and joy: "We so loved raising our four children by birth, we didn't want to stop. When the clock started to run down on the home team, we brought in ringers."

When the two-time National Book Award finalist Melissa Fay Greene confided to friends that she and her husband planned to adopt a four

27

I Didn't Do It for You: How the World Betrayed a Small African Nation

Michela Wrong

4.2

Scarred by decades of conflict and occupation, the craggy African nation of Eritrea has weathered the world's longest-running guerrilla war. The dogged determination that secured victory against Ethiopia, its giant neighbor, is woven into the national psyche, the product of cynical foreign interventions. Fascist Italy wanted Eritrea as the springboard for a new, racially pure Roman empire; Britain

28

The Real Facts about Ethiopia

J. A. Rogers

4.2

2015 Reprint of 1936 Edition. Full Facsimile of the original edition. Not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. J. A. Rogers was a Jamaican-American author, journalist, and historian who contributed to the history of Africa and the African diaspora, especially the history of African Americans in the United States. His research spanned the academic fields of history, sociology and anthropol

29

From Babylon to Timbuktu: A History of the Ancient Black Races Including the Black Hebrews

Rudolph R. Windsor

4.2

This carefully researched book is a significant addition to this vital field of knowledge. It sets forth, in fascinating detail, the history, from earliest recorded times, of the black races of the Middle East and Africa.

30

Ethiopia: The Bradt Travel Guide

Philip Briggs

4.2

Fully updated with new maps, the second edit ion of this Guide to Ethiopia offers information on the hist ory, culture, landscape and wildlife of the country for West erners travelling off the beaten track. '

31

Explore Ethiopia - A Coloring Book

Stacy Bellward and Danette Malerich

4.2

32

Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town

Paul Theroux

4.1

In Dark Star Safari the wittily observant and endearingly irascible Paul Theroux takes readers the length of Africa by rattletrap bus, dugout canoe, cattle truck, armed convoy, ferry, and train. In the course of his epic and enlightening journey, he endures danger, delay, and dismaying circumstances.

Gauging the state of affairs, he talks to Africans, aid workers, missionaries, and tourists. What r

33

The Barefoot Emperor: An Ethiopian Tragedy

Philip Marsden

4.1

A fascinating excursion into a bizarre episode in 19th century Ethiopian and British imperial history, The Barefoot Emperor recalls the reign of the Emperor Theodore, who defended his mountain-top stronghold with a massive 70-ton gun.

34

How to Read the Air

Dinaw Mengestu

4.1

A heartbreaking literary masterwork about love, family, and the power of imagination, which confirms Mengestu's reputation as one of the brightest talents of his generation.

Dinaw Mengestu's first novel, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, earned the young writer comparisons to Bellow, Fitzgerald, and Naipaul, and garnered ecstatic critical praise and awards around the world for its haunting de

35

My Life and Ethiopia's Progress, Vol. 2

Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia

4.1

This second volume covers the history of Haile Sellassie during his exile in England, his presentation of Ethiopia's appeal to the League of Nations and his return home after victory over Mussolini.

36

Ethiopia At Bay: A Personal Account of the Haile Sellassie Years

John H. Spencer

4.1

37

They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan

Benjamin Ajak, Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, Judy A. Bernstein

4.1

Benjamin, Alepho, and Benson were raised among the Dinka tribe of Sudan. Their world was an insulated, close-knit community of grass-roofed cottages, cattle herders, and tribal councils. The lions and pythons that prowled beyond the village fences were the greatest threat they knew. All that changed the night the government-armed Murahiliin began attacking their villages.

Amid the chaos, screams, c

Cover unavailable

38

New World Sourdough: Artisan Techniques for Creative Homemade Fermented Breads; With Recipes for Birote, Bagels, Pan de Coco, Beignets, and More

Bryan Ford

4.1

New World Sourdough is your go-to guide to baking delicious, inventive sourdough breads at home.

Learn how to make a sourdough starter, basic breads, as well as other innovative baked goods from start to finish with Instagram star Bryan Ford's (@artisanbryan) inviting, nontraditional approach to home baking. With less emphasis on perfecting crumb structure or obsessive temperature monitoring, Ford

Cover unavailable

39

The Books of Enoch: A Complete Volume Containing 1 Enoch (First Book of Enoch), 2 Enoch (Second Book of Enoch) the Extended Version, 3 Enoch (Third Book of Enoch)

Joseph Lumpkin

4.1

The First Book of Enoch was lost for centuries to the western world although it was kept by the Ethiopian church. In 1773 the Scottish explorer James Bruce heard that the Book of Enoch may have been in Ethiopia so traveled there and procured three copies. In 1821 Richard Laurence, a professor of Hebrew at Oxford, produced the first English translation. Fragments of ten Enoch manuscripts were found

Recommended by The Dome.

The Dome

@Gospel_Truther do a study on orbs, and the orbs of the sun as it sets as well - may find it interesting - the book of enoch refers to this as well - it is an "enclosed circle" [source]

40

Prevail: The Inspiring Story of Ethiopia's Victory over Mussolini's Invasion, 1935-1941

Jeff Pearce

4.1

It was the war that changed everything, and yet it’s been mostly forgotten: in 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia. It dominated newspaper headlines and newsreels. It inspired mass marches in Harlem, a play on Broadway, and independence movements in Africa. As the British Navy sailed into the Mediterranean for a white-knuckle showdown with Italian ships, riots broke out in major cities all over the Unite

41

In Search of King Solomon's Mines

Tahir Shah

4.1

42

King of Kings: The Triumph and Tragedy of Haile Selassie I

Asfa-Wossen Asserate

4.1

Haile Selassie I, the last emperor of Ethiopia, was as brilliant as he was formidable. An early proponent of African unity and independence who claimed to be a descendant of King Solomon, he fought with the Allies against the Axis powers during World War II and was a messianic figure for the Jamaican Rastafarians. But the final years of his empire saw turmoil and revolution, and he was ultimately

43

Arabian Sands

Wilfred Thesiger

4.1

"Arabian Sands" is Wilfred Thesiger's record of his extraordinary journey through the parched "Empty Quarter" of Arabia. Educated at Eton and Oxford, Thesiger was repulsed by the softness and rigidity of Western life-"the machines, the calling cards, the meticulously aligned streets." In the spirit of T. E. Lawrence, he set out to explore the deserts of Arabia, traveling among peoples who had neve

Recommended by Bernard Haykel and Jo Tatchell.

Bernard Haykel

This is an older book and an unusual choice. I contracted malaria when I was in Yemen doing fieldwork. Between bouts of feverish hallucination, I read this book. It’s the authority on the Arabian Desert. He ventures into The Empty Quarter, one of the great deserts of the world. Arabia was an incredibly harsh place for human beings to live. Thesiger shows how Arabs, especially nomadic Arabs, were in tune with this ecology. They developed a culture that enabled them to survive. He shows the humanity of the Bedouin, otherwise thought to be savages. [source]

Jo Tatchell

This was written in the 1950s after Thesiger returned from five years of Arabian travel. He was one of the few non-indigenous people to cross “the Empty Quarter”, the desert that occupies a huge part of what is now Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It’s almost a million square kilometres of billowing amber dunes – and more terrifying than an ocean. Usually, people travelled around the peninsula by sea, hugging the coast to get from town to town. A group travelling from Qatar to Mecca would make their way around the southern part of the peninsula. But there were ways of crossing it and, after World War II, Thesiger was offered a role mapping out the patters of locusts travelling across the desert. He jumped at the chance and joined the Rashid, a Bedu tribe, who lived in the old way, unsullied by the modernity that would soon accompany the arrival of oil prospectors. Thesiger relished the intimacy of the desert brotherhood. His passion for their simple way of life grew ever greater as he spent time with them. They cared for each other, knowing their lives depended upon it. And it had to be so; if one is cast out in the wilderness like that, it isn’t possible to survive alone. The camaraderie he describes is exclusively male; but he appreciated the regimen of the desert’s “barbaric splendour”. He valued the austerity of the lifestyle and the keen hardness of the people he declared most noble, pure in thought and deed. [source]

44

The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek: Aka the Kebra Nagast

E. A. Wallis Budge

4.1

The Kebra Nagast (the Glory Of Kings) is the story of the Queen of Sheba and her only son Menyelek. In this ancient Ethiopian scriptural text, the story of how the Holy Ark of the covenant was taken from Jerusalem to Ethiopia by Menyelek, the son of King Solomon of Israel and Queen Makeda of Ethiopia is revealed and interpreted within the confines of these pages.

45

A History of Ethiopia

Harold G. Marcus

4.1

In this eminently readable, concise history of Ethiopia, Harold Marcus surveys the evolution of the oldest African nation from prehistory to the present. For the updated edition, Marcus has written a new preface, two new chapters, and an epilogue, detailing the development and implications of Ethiopia as a Federal state and the war with Eritrea.

46

The Garbage King

Elizabeth Laird

4.1

A gritty, deeply moving story that shows how the human spirit can triumph in the harshest of worlds.

47

No Greater Love

Levi Benkert, Candy Chand

4.1

Levi Benkert was playing with his children in the park when he received an urgent phone call from a friend asking him to drop everything and fly to Ethiopia to help organize a rescue orphanage for children destined to be murdered as part of a tribal superstition known as "mingi killings." Moved by his friend's story, Levi packed his bags and left for what he thought would be a short two-week trip.

Cover unavailable

48

At Home in the World: Reflections on Belonging While Wandering the Globe

Tsh Oxenreider

4.1

As Tsh Oxenreider, author of Notes From a Blue Bike, chronicles her family’s adventure around the world. Americans Tsh and Kyle met and married in Kosovo. They lived as expats for most of a decade. They’ve been back in the States—now with three kids under ten—for four years, and while home is nice, they are filled with wanderlust and long to answer the call, so a trip—a nine-months-long trip—is pl

49

My Soul to Keep (African Immortals, #1)

Tananarive Due

4.1

When Jessica marries David, he is everything she wants in a family man: brilliant, attentive, ever youthful. Yet she still feels something about him is just out of reach. Soon, as people close to Jessica begin to meet violent, mysterious deaths, David makes an unimaginable confession: More than 400 years ago, he and other members of an Ethiopian sect traded their humanity so they would never die,

50

This Is a Soul: The Mission of Rick Hodes

Marilyn Berger

4.1

Dr. Rick Hodes arrived in Africa more than two decades ago to help the victims of a famine, but he never expected to call this extremely poor continent his home. Twenty-eight years later, he is still there. This is a Soul tells the remarkable story of Rick Hodes’s journey from suburban America to Mother Teresa’s clinic in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

As a boy, Rick was devoted to helping those in need, a

51

Scoop

Evelyn Waugh

4.1

In "Scoop, " surreptitiously dubbed "a newspaper adventure, " Waugh flays Fleet Street and the social pastimes of its war correspondants as he tells how William Boot became the star of British super-journalism an how, leaving part of his shirt in the claws of the lovely Katchen, he returned from Ishmaelia to London as the "Daily's Beast's" more accoladed overseas reporter.

Recommended by Andy Borowitz, M C Beaton, Martin Bell, and 5 others.

Andy Borowitz

Everything about this book is perfect, from the prose to the characters to the Swiss-clock workings of the plot. [source]

M C Beaton

Before I worked for the Daily Express I thought Scoop was a marvellous work of fiction. Then I found it wasn’t that far from the truth. [source]

Martin Bell

The older I got and the more wars I covered – I have done about 18 – the more true it became. Everything is there. [source]

52

Ethiopia - Travellers' Handbook (Travel Guide)

Trevor Jenner

4.1

53

The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant

Graham Hancock

4.1

The loss of the Ark of the Covenant is an historical mystery. To believers, the Ark was the vessel holding the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. The bible contains hundreds of references to the Ark's power to level mountains, destroy armies & lay waste to cities. The Ark itself, however, mysteriously disappears from recorded history sometime after the building of the Temple of Solomon.
After

54

Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World

Mark Pendergrast

4.1

Uncommon Grounds tells the story of coffee from its discovery on a hill in Abyssinia to its role in intrigue in the American colonies to its rise as a national consumer product in the twentieth century and its rediscovery with the advent of Starbucks at the end of the century. A panoramic epic, Uncommon Grounds uses coffee production, trade, and consumption as a window through which to view broad

Recommended by Tim Kaine.

Tim Kaine

My two favorite birthday gifts—Chiefs Super Bowl t-shirt from my parents and book about the history of coffee from Anne! https://t.co/Ub3D6ck1Vk [source]

55

Cry Wolf

Wilbur Smith

4.1

A wartime thriller in which three people - a Texan, an Englishman and an American reporter - embark on a daring adventure as they attempt to save the Ethiopian people from annihilation by Mussolini's forces. By the author of THE SEVENTH SCROLL and BIRDS OF PREY.

56

Tower in the Sky

Hiwot Teffera

4.1

An eighteen-year old girl sets out to meet a young man whom she had never met before and is swept away by a series of events that transformed her life in a way she could have never imagined. Tower in the sky is the story of love, revolution, hopes, dreams, violence, terror, trust, betrayal, tragedy, disillusionment, self-transformation and the triumphal power of the human spirit. The book vividly

57

The Storyteller's Beads

Jane Kurtz, Michael Bryant

4.1

Running for their lives to escape the political upheaval in Ethiopia, two young girls from different faiths form an unlikely friendship.

58

Wings Over Ogaden: The Ethiopian Somali War, 1978-1979

Tom Cooper

4.1

With Ethiopia in disarray following a period of severe internal unrest and the spread of insurgencies in Eritrea and Tigray, Ethiopia and its armed forces should have offered little opposition to well-equipped Somali armed forces which were unleashed to capture Ogaden, in July 1977. However, excellently trained pilots of the Ethiopian Air Force took full advantage of their US-made equipment, prima

59

The Oromo and the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia: 1300-1700

Mohammed Hassen

4.1

This revisionary account of the Oromo people and the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia transforms our perception of the country's development, rebutting the common depiction of the Oromo as no more than a destructive force and demonstrating their significant role in shaping the course of Ethiopian history. Tracing the early history of the Oromo as part of the Cushitic language speaking family of peopl

60

Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy's Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard

Mawi Asgedom

4.1

Read the remarkable true story of a young boy's journey from civil war in east Africa to a refugee camp in Sudan, to a childhood on welfare in an affluent American suburb, and eventually to a full-tuition scholarship at Harvard University.

Following his father's advice to "treat all people-even the most unsightly beetles-as though they were angels sent from heaven," Mawi overcomes the challenges

61

The Chains of Heaven: An Ethiopian Romance

Philip Marsden

4.1

Philip Marsden returns to Ethiopia, the remote, fiercely beautiful land whose powerful mythic appeal has fascinated him all his life, to explore its legacy of independence, civil war and brutal repression.

62

Africa

Sebastiao Salgado

4.1

Empathy and ecstasy. An homage to Africa's people and wildlife
Sebastião Salgado is one the most respected photojournalists working today, his reputation forged by decades of dedication and powerful black-and-white images of dispossessed and distressed people taken in places where most wouldn’t dare to go. Although he has photographed throughout South America and around the globe, his work most he

63

Only a Pigeon

Jane Kurtz, Christopher Kurtz, E.B. Lewis

4.1

A lyrical picture book inspired by the daily life of "pigeon boys" in EthiopiaSome might say that Ondu-ahlem's favorite bird, Chinkay, is only a pigeon. But to the young boy from Addis Ababa, Chinkay is everything that is proud, beautiful, and free. Ondu-ahlem watches over his flock like a mother, feeding the orphaned chicks and guarding the birds from the attacks of stray animals. Finally, his ca

64

Saba: Under the Hyena's Foot (Girls of Many Lands)

Jane Kurtz, Jean-Paul Tibbles

4.0

When twelve-year-old Saba and her older brother are kidnapped and taken from their rural home to the royal palace at Gondar, Saba finally learns about her long-lost parents--and her own royal past. With Ethiopia's rulers in the midst of a fierce struggle for control of the throne, what can the King of Kings--Emperor Yohannes III--possibly want with her?

65

The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and People (Oxford Paperbacks)

Edward Ullendorff

4.0

66

The Abyssinian

Jean-Christophe Rufin

4.0

Jean-Christophe Rufin yokes the elegant language of the French enlightenment with the storytelling of Alexandre Dumas to create a splendid parable of liberty, religious fanaticism and the possibility of happiness.

'Set in 1700, towards the end of the reign of Louis XIV, it follows the fortunes of a brave apothecary, a talented but unofficial doctor, who is talked into leading an embassy from Cairo

67

Yohannes Ishi

Nabse Bamato

4.0

Born in Ethiopia, but adopted by a British couple, Yohannes grows up far from his cultural roots. Following the death of his adoptive mother, he is persuaded to return to the beautiful, yet seemingly impossible nation, to take on a teaching job.

With no memories of the land of his birth and no knowledge of the language or culture, Yohannes finds himself a virtual stranger. He meets a whole raft of

68

Amharic Lessons and Exercises

Daniel Zewge

4.0

69

The Monk of Mokha

Dave Eggers

4.0

The Monk of Mokha is the exhilarating true story of a young Yemeni American man, raised in San Francisco, who dreams of resurrecting the ancient art of Yemeni coffee but finds himself trapped in Sana'a by civil war.

Mokhtar Alkhanshali is twenty-four and working as a doorman when he discovers the astonishing history of coffee and Yemen's central place in it. He leaves San Francisco and travels deep

70

Catherine's Gift

John Little

4.0

Dr Catherine Hamlin has been described as a living saint and one of our greatest Australians. Since 1959 she has lived and worked in Ethiopia, helping the victims of fistulas -- devastating injuries caused by obstructed labour in childbirth, which condemn women to a lifetime of incapacity and degradation.

The surgery she pioneered has helped tens of thousands of sufferers return to normal life afte

71

Wax & Gold: Tradition And Innovation In Ethiopian Culture

Donald Nathan Levine

4.0

72

Ethiopia: The Living Churches of an Ancient Kingdom

Mary Anne Fitzgerald

4.0

The ancient Axumite Kingdom, now a part of Ethiopia, was possibly the first nation in the world to convert to Christianity. In AD 340 King Ezana commissioned the construction of the imposing basilica of St. Mary of Tsion. It was here, the Ethiopians say, that Menelik, son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, brought the Ark of the Covenant containing the Ten Commandments. By the fifth century,

73

Peasant Revolution in Ethiopia: The Tigray People's Liberation Front, 1975 1991

Young

4.0

Almost unnoticed, in the wake of the overthrow of Emperor Haile-Selassie, the coming to power of the military, and the ongoing independence struggle in Eritrea, a band of students launched an insurrection from the northern Ethiopian province of Tigray. Calling themselves the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), they built close relations with Tigray's poverty-stricken peasants and on this basi

74

Looking at Ethiopia

Kathleen Pohl

4.0

Did you know that Ethiopia is one of the oldest independent countries in the world? Looking at Ethiopia, you will see the rugged mountains of the Simien range, the roaring waterfalls of the Blue Nile, and the lakes and volcanoes of the Great Rift Valley. Learn about life in Ethiopia, from camels to coffee and from droughts to deserts.

75

What Do Animals Think About?: Empathetic Questions For Ethiopian Animals in Amharic and English

Chris Kurtz, Ready Set Go Books, et al.

4.0

76

Famine and Foreigners: Ethiopia Since Live Aid

Peter Gill

4.0

The Ethiopian famine of 25 years ago was the greatest humanitarian disaster of the late 20th century, killing more than 600,000 people before the world took notice. Peter Gill was the first journalist to reach the epicenter of the famine in 1984 and he returned at the time of Live Aid to research the definitive account of the disaster, A Year in the Death of Africa.

Now, in Famine and Foreigners, G

77

The Fetha Nagast: The Law of the Kings

Haile Sellasie

4.0

Ethiopian ancient law; governing the royalty, nobility, and clergy of Ethiopia for centuries.

78

Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia

Paul B. Henze

4.0

Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in the world. Beginning with the Aksumite Empire, this book traces the country's expansion southward during medieval times, its resistance to Muslim invasion, and, under energetic leaders, the defense of its independence during the European colonization of Africa. Rather than exploring only the major figures--kings, princes, and politicians--this volume also

79

Ethiopia: Recipes and Traditions from the Horn of Africa

Yohanis Gebreyesus, Jeff Koehler

4.0

Ethiopia stands as a land apart in so many respects: Never colonized, the country celebrates and preserves its ancient traditions. Its history is enriched with a religious mix-unique in Africa-of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The national borders contain one of the most fertile swaths of land on the continent. All this makes for a food culture as fascinatingly distinct as it is startlingly del

80

The Fate of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence

Martin Meredith

4.0

"The fortunes of Africa have changed dramatically in the fifty years since the independence era began. As Europe's colonial powers withdrew, dozens of new states were launched amid much jubilation and to the world's applause. African leaders stepped forward with energy and enthusiasm to tackle the problems of development and nation-building, boldly proclaiming their hopes of establishing new socie

81

Les Secrets de la mer Rouge

Henry de Monfreid

4.0

Le Harrar, Djibouti, Aden... Pas de doute, le jeune Monfreid marche bien sur les traces de Rimbaud. Mais la littérature ne l'intéresse guère ; pas plus que la civilisation, ces petits comptoirs coloniaux où il étouffe. Il lui faut l'air du large, le pont vibrant de son boutre, toutes voiles dehors fuyant coups de vent et tempêtes, en compagnie de ses fidèles Danakils, dont il porte le turban et le

82

Refugee Boy

Benjamin Zephaniah

4.0

Alem is on holiday with his father for a few days in London. He has never been out of Ethiopia before and is very excited. They have a great few days togther until one morning when Alem wakes up in the bed and breakfast they are staying at to find the unthinkable. His father has left him. It is only when the owner of the bed and breakfast hands him a letter that Alem is given an explanation. Alem'

83

E Is for Ethiopia

Ashenafi Gudeta, Ataklti Mulu, Betelhem Abate, Dama Boru

4.0

Ethiopia is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. It lies in East Africa, set in a landscape of mountains and rivers - and the Blue Nile, which flows into the River Nile, rises here in Lake Tana. Our wildlife includes giraffes, elephants, zebras, crocodiles, hyenas, lions and all kinds of beautiful birds.

The country is rich in history. It has an important place in both the Christian and Mu

84

African Zion: Sacred Art of Ethiopia

Marilyn Heldman, Stuart C. Munro-Hay, Roderick Grierson

4.0

85

The God Who Begat a Jackal: A Novel

Nega Mezlekia

4.0

A Library Journal Best Book

Nega Mezlekia's memoir Notes from the Hyena's Belly was described in the New York Times Book Review as "the most riveting book about Ethiopia since Ryszard Kapuscinski's literary allegory The Emperor and the most distinguished African literary memoir since Soyinka's Aké appeared 20 years ago." Mezlekia now offers a first novel steeped in African folklore and teeming with

86

The Perfect Orange: A Tale from Ethiopia (Toucan Tales)

Frank P. Araujo, Xiao-Jun Li

4.0

Inspiring gentle folktale. Breathtaking watercolors dramatize ancient Ethiopia's contrasting pastoral charm and majesty. Illustrations are rich with Ethiopian details. Story reinforces values of generosity and selflessness over greed and self-centeredness. Glossary of Ethiopian terms and pronunciation key.

87

Yohannes IV of Ethiopia: A Political Biography

Zewde Gabre-Sellassie

4.0

88

The Invention Of Ethiopia

Bonnie K. Holcomb

4.0

89

Warriors of Ethiopia: Ethiopian National Missionaries, Heroes of the Gospel in the Omo River Valley

Richard McLellan

4.0

Autobiographical work of "religious anthropology" detailing the author's life among the people of Ethiopia, covering nearly half a century and focusing primarily on missionary work. Confidently written and very nicely printed, with numerous color and black & white photographs.

90

Held at a Distance: My Rediscovery of Ethiopia

Rebecca G. Haile

4.0

This powerful book gives readers a chance to experience Ethiopia through the personal experience of a writer who is both Ethiopian and American. It takes readers beyond headlines and stereotypes to a deeper understanding of the country. This is an absorbing account of the author’s return trip to Ethiopia as an adult, having left the country in exile with her family at age 11. She profiles relative

91

The White Nile

Alan Moorehead

4.0

Relive all the thrills and adventure of Alan Moorehead's classic bestseller The White Nile -- the daring exploration of the Nile River in the second half of the nineteenth century, which was at that time the most mysterious and impenetrable region on earth. Capturing in breathtaking prose the larger-than-life personalities of such notable figures as Stanley, Livingstone, Burton and many others, Th

Recommended by Dan Morrison.

Dan Morrison

Because it’s fun, rollicking and, at times, hilarious – it’s a wonderful read. It is the prose of someone who was educated before Marxism entered the campuses and before any whiff of political correctness existed. It has no influence on him, and the book takes some heat for that. But both the The White Nile and its companion, The Blue Nile, have the best qualities of history. [source]

Cover unavailable

92

The Blue Nile

Alan Moorehead

4.0

In the first half of the nineteenth century, only a small handful of Westerners had ventured into the regions watered by the Nile River on its long journey from Lake Tana in Abyssinia to the Mediterranean-lands that had been forgotten since Roman times, or had never been known at all. In The Blue Nile, Alan Moorehead continues the classic, thrilling narration of adventure he began in The White Nil

93

The Life of My Choice

Wilfred Thesiger

4.0

Wilfred Thesiger is the last of the great British eccentric explorers, renowned for his travels through some of the most inaccessible places on earth. As a child in Abyssinia he watched the glorious armies of Ras Tafari returning from hand-to-hand battle, their prisoners in chains; at the age of 23 he made his first expedition into the country of the Danakil, a murderous race among whom a man's st

94

The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia, 1844-1913

Harold G. Marcus

4.0

A study of the political and military genius of Menelik II, who defeated late 19th century European imperialism.

95

The Lion's Whiskers: An Ethiopian Folktale

Nancy Raines Day, Ann Grifalconi

4.0

96

Historical Dictionary of Eritrea, Third Edition

Dan Connell

4.0

In 1991, Eritrea won a 30-year war for independence from Ethiopia, and in 1993, it was recognized as Africa's newest nation after more than a century of conquest and occupation by a succession of external powers that included the Ottomans, Egypt, Italy, Great Britain and Ethiopia. Each had left its mark, while fostering a deep distrust of outsiders and a fierce commitment to Eritrea's separate pol

97

Unfortunate Marriage of Azeb Yitades

Nega Mezlekia

4.0

Spanning from the 1960s to the 1990s, The Unfortunate Marriage of Azeb Yitades is an epic tale of a small village in eastern Ethiopia struggling to maintain its identity and heritage as the modern world encroaches on its isolation. Aba Yitades, the local priest, takes this challenge very personally. The father of three daughters, he is always alert to the new temptations they face—and never more s

98

Blacks in Antiquity: Ethiopians in the Greco-Roman Experience

Frank M. Snowden Jr.

4.0

The Africans who came to ancient Greece and Italy participated in an important chapter of classical history. Although evidence indicated that the alien dark- and black-skinned people were of varied tribal and geographic origins, the Greeks and Romans classified many of them as Ethiopians. In an effort to determine the role of black people in ancient civilization, Mr. Snowden examines a broad span

99

Trouble

Jane Kurtz, Durga Bernhard

4.0

Tekleh is curious. Tekleh likes adventure. And trouble always seems to find him, no matter how hard he tries to avoid it. One day Tekleh’s father decides that a gebeta (also known as mancala) board will help keep Tekleh occupied--and out of trouble. “Time and place will prove no barrier to kids’ identification with an inadvertent mischiefmaker.”--The Bulletin

100

My Fathers' Daughter

Hannah Pool

4.0

In 1974 Hannah Pool was adopted from an orphanage in Eritrea and brought to England by her white adoptive father. She grew up unable to imagine what it must be like to look into the eyes of a blood relative until one day a letter arrived from a brother she never knew she had. Not knowing what to do with the letter, Hannah hid it away. But she was unable to forget it, and ten years later she finall