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The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire Paperback – Illustrated, March 23, 2015

by Raymond Jonas (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 108 ratings
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In March 1896 a well-disciplined and massive Ethiopian army did the unthinkable-it routed an invading Italian force and brought Italy's war of conquest in Africa to an end. In an age of relentless European expansion, Ethiopia had successfully defended its independence and cast doubt upon an unshakable certainty of the age-that sooner or later all Africans would fall under the rule of Europeans. This event opened a breach that would lead, in the aftermath of world war fifty years later, to the continent's painful struggle for freedom from colonial rule.

Raymond Jonas offers the first comprehensive account of this singular episode in modern world history. The narrative is peopled by the ambitious and vain, the creative and the coarse, across Africa, Europe, and the Americas-personalities like Menelik, a biblically inspired provincial monarch who consolidated Ethiopia's throne; Taytu, his quick-witted and aggressive wife; and the Swiss engineer Alfred Ilg, the emperor's close advisor. The Ethiopians' brilliant gamesmanship and savvy public relations campaign helped roll back the Europeanization of Africa.

Figures throughout the African diaspora immediately grasped the significance of Adwa, Menelik, and an independent Ethiopia. Writing deftly from a transnational perspective, Jonas puts Adwa in the context of manifest destiny and Jim Crow, signaling a challenge to the very concept of white dominance. By reopening seemingly settled questions of race and empire, the Battle of Adwa was thus a harbinger of the global, unsettled century about to unfold.

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  1. Print length
    432 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press
  4. Publication date
    March 23, 2015
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0674503848
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0674503847
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

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“Jonas’s lucidly woven account masterfully repositions the role of contingency in the unfolding of history and uses the little-known battle to stand for the audacious imperial quest for glory unleashed by Western powers in the ‘scramble for Africa.’ …His remarkable cast of characters and insightful prose will be of interest to scholars of African history and issues related to counterinsurgency.”―Brian Odom, Library Journal

“On March 1, 1896, near the town of Adwa, in Ethiopia, an African army convincingly struck down the colonizing Italian army in a battle that decisively shaped not only the contours of Ethiopia but also its future and that of the continent. As University of Washington historian Jonas so deftly observes in this nimble and artfully crafted work, the events at Adwa cast doubt upon Europeans’ unshakeable certainty that Africans would eventually fall under their rule. Jonas draws vibrant portraits of the personalities at the center of these events, from the shrewd Ethiopian monarch Menelik and his bold, aggressive wife, Taytu Betul, to the unfortunate Italian general Oreste Baratieri, the leader of the defeated Italian forces. As Jonas points out, the African victory at Adwa commenced the crumbling of European dominance of Africa; Ethiopia thus became a source of pride and lineage often indistinguishable from Africa itself, and writers such as W.E.B. Du Bois based their own model African states on Ethiopia. Weaving a colorful account from the stories of a dazzling array of characters, Jonas skillfully recreates this now mostly forgotten event that determined the color of Africa.”―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Jonas offers the first comprehensive study of one of the most important events in modern African history. He brilliantly brings to life the story of Ethiopian leaders, Italian military officials, and quirky European advisors and observers. Written in a wonderfully evocative and lively style, this book firmly establishes the Battle of Adwa’s place in world history and will appeal to a broad readership.”―Jonathan Miran, author of Red Sea Citizens

About the Author

Raymond Jonas is Jon Bridgman Endowed Professor in History, University of Washington, Seattle.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press; Reprint edition (March 23, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0674503848
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674503847
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.3 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 108 ratings

About the author

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Raymond Anthony Jonas

Raymond Anthony Jonas

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My work explores episodes that connect Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Habsburgs on the Rio Grande: The Rise and Fall of the Second Mexican Empire (Harvard) shows how European and Mexican fears of American empire converged to establish a European monarchy on Mexican soil.

The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire (Harvard) tells the unique story of successful African resistance to colonization. The book narrates this signal event in global history and follows the Adwa story as it rolls through African and European diasporic communities. The Battle of Adwa represents the culmination of ten years of research on three continents – Africa, Europe and the Americas.

Earlier work elaborates the political culture of counter-revolution, notably in art, architecture, and ritual. France and the Cult of the Sacred Heart: an Epic Tale for Modern Times (California) focuses on the basilica of Sacré-Coeur in Paris. It situates the basilica within the cold civil war that simmered for over a century after the Revolution of 1789.

The Tragic Tale of Claire Ferchaud and the Great War (California) adopts the biographical form to follow an unusual personality as she navigates the boundary between divine inspiration and hysteria.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
108 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Bomb Man58
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Account from Both Sides
Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2015
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I bought this book after spending some time in Ethiopia as a member of a UN Peacekeeping Mission, during which time I was fortunate to visit the site of the battle some 107 years after. Ethiopia is a timeless land full of rich culture and beauty and the diversity of the country and its people are something to behold.

In this work, the author has examined the lead up to the actual battle, its conduct and the aftermath, when the vast Ethiopian forces under Menelik marched some 1900 Italian prisoners back to Addis Ababa via various routes in order to parade them through the capital and also to use the prisoners as a bargaining chip for future relations with the great European powers.

The author has produced a very good work of this significant battle, as the world moved into the twentieth century and headed into the First World War eighteen years later. The first major defeat of a colonial power by an African nation certainly made the world take heed. Some semblance of this defeat of a colonial power was also to be played out some forty six years later with the fall of Singapore and the defeat of a major colonial power by an Asian country was to set in motion the changes in the world in the post WW2 era.

The book is well written and easy to read rich in personal accounts of various participants in the Battle of Adwa from Generals to ordinary soldiers; it does not dwell on lengthy historical oratory about the various political and social events of the world at the time but focuses on the grassroots events that lead to the Italian army arriving at Adwa and the subsequent battle and its aftermath. The personal stories many of the survivors from both sides makes interesting reading, especially the various fates of many of the Italian prisoners who were billeted out to families in Addis Ababa and how they then set about working in a new lifestyle until their repatriation back to Italy.

The author includes many photos of the people and the terrain of the battle site in this book.

In summary a well written and sourced account of one of history's significant battles, rich in personal accounts and well documented. It would be a very well rounded account of the battle of Adwa with a balanced account of events from both sides. Well done, Raymond Jonas...!
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Mark Howells
5.0 out of 5 stars Great battle - great book
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2011
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While the prior battles of the Little Bighorn and Isandlawana were defeats of imperial armies by indigenous forces, they amounted to no more than temporary setbacks. The battle of Adwa (or Adowa) in 1896 was a more permanent victory. The native Ethiopians decisively defeated a modern Italian invasion force and preserved Ethiopian independence for another generation.

Raymond Jonas turns his very readable history of the battle into a broader review of the global impact it had on the concepts and realities of African freedom in the imperialist era.

The book is quickly paced and simply divided into pre-battle, actual battle and post-battle sections which are self-supporting to the overall narrative. With very little else published on the battle for the non-specialist reader, this one is both fast and fun to read. Jonas is a gifted story teller and his word pictures of people and places make you feel that you are actually there observing.

There are bons mots galore in the author's text:

In calling Ethiopia the Switzerland of Africa: "Ethiopia largely lacks evergreens and it certainly lacks chalets and lederhosen."

Raio peak on the battlefield has a "...gnarly, bulbous profile bearing a passing resemblance to a walrus snout."

The author does not play favorites when it comes to the two opponents. Both are depicted warts and all, be they heroes, cowards, scoundrels or saints. Neither side is romanticized. Jonas makes plain that the battle was very much a "black on black" fire fight with the Italians dependent on their own African askaris providing the bulk of their forces. The Ethiopian tradition of emasculating enemy dead, wounded or prisoners is handled in a straightforward and non-judgmental way.

The author's conclusion that the battle was "...a national epic, the founding event in the modern life of the nation." is well supported. Adwa, as is the same case for this excellent book on the fight, was more than just a clash of armies.

For more general interest reading, see  Armies of the Adowa Campaign 1896: The Italian Disaster in Ethiopia (Men-at-Arms)  by McLachlan and Ruggeri for additional images and military information.
9 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Matthew
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended
Reviewed in Germany on March 26, 2021
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Amazing. Raymond Jonas is an amazing Historian!
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RM
5.0 out of 5 stars Good work!
Reviewed in Canada on December 21, 2015
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Really decent work and very interesting accounts from both sides. Highly recommended for all those interested in military history.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 30, 2016
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I found the book more than i have expected and it was arrived on time.
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The green healer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 11, 2015
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Great book
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gwaan
4.0 out of 5 stars Very Very interesting
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 26, 2011
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Totally agree with the Aussie Rick's 4 star review.

I personally found the detailed, up-to-minute view of the actual Battle of Adwa a bit confusing, with so many liutenants, captains, flanks, strategies, re-guards, etc. However, the brilliance of this book is that the actual Battle of Adwa is only a fraction of the material explained. I have enjoyed this book tremendously mostly because of its off-side historical insights, be it the everyday life at downtown Massawa, or the royal politics of emperors Yohannes IV vs. Menelik II (and his witty double-dealings), the role of Ras Makonnen in European diplomacy, the life of Eritrean "madamas" and especially the fate of the more than 3 thousand Italian prisoners taken to Addis Ababa after the Ethiopian victory.

This book makes for fascinating reading, including the role of Western media in Racial Stereotypes and their hypocritical appreciation of events: when Ethiopians are in the losing side they're African savages, cannibals, etc, when they beat the Italians they are "Caucasians", "Phoenician". Hilarious, but those were the times. Not only those interested in Ethiopian history, but any reader avid on colonial history should really give this book a try.

On a minor note, I personally don't agree with the author, Raymond Jonas, using the word "Ras Michael" as such, I believe the term "Ras Mikael Alí" would be more appropiate as this is how he's usually remembered in Ethiopia. Whereas the times of Ras Makonnen, Ras Alula and others are well explained, on Ras Mikael Alí it's all a bit sketchy, and it's a pity given his importance at the time and his conversion to Christianity following the overruning of his Sultanate barely a few years prior to the Battle of Adwa. The English-ization of his name is valid of course, but then you could also call Yohannes IV "John", Abuna Matewos "Mathew", etc, (which the author didn't).
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