Reviews (2)

Amazingly Helpful
As world travelers experiencing our first trip to Ethiopia, we found ourselves carrying Briggs' book with us everywhere! His intelligent guidance was informative and helpful in every way.We felt that he was with us, helping us understand and enjoy this complex and fascinating land.We wish to thank Mr. Briggs for his incredible attention to detail, which greatly enhanced our trip.Don't go to Ethiopia without it!

Indispensable Guide to Ethiopia
I am planning my third trip to Ethiopia, and Philip Briggs' 4th edition of Ethiopia: The Bradt Travel Guide has proved to be indispensable.I have used his previous guidebook editions on my trips, and his information and tips are always exactly right.As an extra added bonus, he is an entertaining and perceptive writer, and the books are fun to read as well.This is the only book a traveler needs for a trip to Ethiopia. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Ethiopia    5. Travel & holiday guides    6. Travel / Africa   

Reviews (2)

Excellent on Eritrea as well as Ethiopia
"Smallchief" mentioned that he had used this book in only in Ethiopia; I can attest that the Eritrea section is excellent as well. The walking tours of Asmara are a particularly useful and enjoyable introduction to a beautiful and eminently walkable city.Some of the information is out of date - a number of the establishments mentioned in the book are now closed, presumably due to the Eritrean economy's difficult straights.Let's hope that Ethiopia and Eritrea can overcome their joint and singular difficulties.
A fascinating country
I have used the Lonely Planet Guide for two visits to Ethiopia.I haven't been to Eritrea so I can't comment on the guide for that country.
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Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Eritrea    5. Ethiopia    6. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    2. General    3. Maps    4. Ethiopia    5. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Reviews (3)

This book doesn't live up to the Title
The author shows little respect for Ethiopians in General, numerous instances he describes Ethiopians artifacts as "meager", "dingy" etc. This is unacceptable in my opinion because if your going to write about a place then at least be respectful of the place and the people,the author shows little respect for the overall Culture. Ethiopia has been through many violent episodes in the past so if little fragments of history survive in a tarnished manner take account of the fact that wars are usually unkind to places where wars were fought. I read the intro and noticed the author focused on the Names Aksum which is correct towards one of the ancient name of Ethiopia, also correctly naming Kush a neighboring country north of Ethiopia that impressed me so I bought the book anticipating some quality information. After receiving and reading the first 15 pages the author begins to show his unethusiatic attitutde for Ethiopian History which turned off this reader so I returned my copy and will continue searching for quality unbiased information for Ethiopia.

Be Cautious of the Title
I purchased this book because I was looking for an in-depth study of Ethiopian culture, both past and present.However, it soon became apparent that the book's subtitle "A Cultural and Historical Guide" was somewhat misleading.Rather, Mr. Munro-Hay provides a detailed and scholarly analysis of Ethiopian historical sites.The publisher would have been well-advised to use the subtitle "An Archaeological Survey" instead.If that is what you're looking for, then this book is ideal.But if you want information on contemporary Ethiopian culture, it would be best to look elsewhere.

An explorer's companion
Although not a "tourist guide" this book is a handy reference for anyone with interest in this land.Munro-Hay's subtitle: The Unknown Land provides a clue to the problem he faced in summarizing the history and culture of this ancient country.Known to early Christians as the land of "Prester John," Ethiopia's nearly landlocked location and rugged terrain has made it a challenge to scholars for millennia.Munro-Hay makes an earnest effort to enlighten us on many aspects of Ethiopian history and culture.Rather than provide a surface overview, he divides the country into regions based on ancient kingdoms.It's an effective means of organizing the complex store of research he's brought to the task. Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa - East - Ethiopia    2. Description and travel    3. Ethiopia    4. History    5. History - General History    6. Middle East - General    7. Travel    8. African history    9. African studies    10. Egypt    11. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (3)

Common memories
Having lived in the house across the street from Tim and his family in Ethiopia for a few years, the book really resonated with me.The memories of the sights and smells were brought back in such a powerful way!When I got the book I sat down and read the whole thing from cover to cover.When I was finished I felt like I had actually been there. My children have heard about my childhood Ethiopia for years, and are reading the book as well, and are amazed at all the familiar phrases that they have heard for years from me.It has been enlightening for them to hear another voice from my past.Love this book!

Vivid and poignant
Four-year-old Tim wants "the straight scoop on hell." After a serious accident involving a hoe and his younger brother, visions of Cain and Abel ratchet up guilt. When his anguish collides with his missionary mother's flannel graph story--three men in the fiery furnace--his questions echo our own: What happens after death? When things go wrong, how does one hold a family together?
Two Worlds, One Childhood
Weeks after arriving in Ethiopia at the age of three with his medical missionary parents, Tim Bascom found a chameleon on a poinsettia tree.This little reptile, which changes its colour in order to blend into its environment and whose eyes operate separately so they can focus in two completely different directions simultaneously, makes a perfect symbol in this wonderfully evocative and beautifully written memoir for the complex demands missionaries' kids (MKs) negotiate.MKs like Bascom find themselves struggling between their parents' commitment to God's calling and their own fear of coming second to that calling, between the desire to fit into the culture their parents have brought them to and the sense that they are strangers from another place, and between the widespread stereotypes of missionaries as flaming fundamentalists and their own experience of their parents' love for and commitment to the people among whom they worked.Like the chameleon, Bascom wishes desperately to blend into the Ethiopian life his family has moved to, and like his pet, his eyes take in the world he is encountering in Ethiopia at the same time that they never lose sight of the American world his parents return to periodically.
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Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Americans    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Description And Travel    8. Essays & Travelogues    9. Ethiopia    10. Missionaries    11. Personal Memoirs    12. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Reviews (9)

Amharic usefulness depends on where you are
Actually I didn't use the book very much, as my surroundings were almost all English or Oromo-speaking.Before spending much time on a learning a language to use in Ethiopia, be sure to check out the location.Since the Amhara's are no longer the dominant tribe, their language may be less useful.Tigrayans arenow in power and Oromo are the largest language group.

Lonely Planet Ethiopian Amharic Phrasebook
This book is excellent! I don't understand some of the reviews.
Completely Useless!
This guide is terrible if your goal is to speak Amharic.The Achilles heel of this book is that there are no accent marks on the ethiopian phrases.If you read what is in the book there is no way you will come close to saying anything intelligible.On the positive side, all of my Ethiopian friends found this book very helpful for learning English. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. African Languages    2. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    3. General    4. Travel    5. Amharic    6. Ethiopia    7. Language self-study & phrasebooks    8. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (75)

Much more factual than Hancock's other books....
This is a very provocative book, but in the main, this is because the set of historical theories, as laid out, are so sweeping in scope, rather than because the theories are altogether ill founded.Rather than creating the story from scratch, one can make a case that Hancock brought widely separated, but quite genuine, pieces of history together to create a complete picture.
This book got me back into reading after college...
During college I had lost the joy of reading. In my early post grad school years, a friend recommended this fascinating book to me, and it got me back into reading...and I discovered history, what I SHOULD have majored in. Ethiopia in particular is one of the most fascinating countries on earth. Endlessly fascinating...

GET THIS BOOK!
Yes, I could not put this book down!WOW!Why 4 stars though?Graham Hancock is not a bible expert in a spiritual way, but he's a great detective!I did not like the middle of the book where he gives his own whacky biblical views, because this departs from the main detective story.He returns to it though after a few pages and all is well again. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Antiquities & Archaeology    2. Archaeology    3. Archaeology / Anthropology    4. Ark of the Covenant    5. Description and travel    6. Ethiopia    7. Hancock, Graham    8. Miscellanea    9. Religion    10. Travel    11. Biography: general    12. Journeys    13. Religion / General   

Reviews (2)

Vanishing
The photographs are everything, showing African villagers much as they have lived for the past century.This is not modern Africa, but its last remaining tribal cultures completely tied to the rhythms and livelihood of stoop farming, animal husbandry, and tribal warfare.The people are often beautiful, their adornments alternately colorful and extreme (those lip disks make me wince).
It's among the best of choices

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Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Ethiopia    3. Ethnic groups    4. Ethnology    5. History    6. Photo Techniques    7. Photography    8. Pictorial works    9. Travel    10. Travel - Foreign    11. Travel - General    12. Photography / Travel    13. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (11)

a-Nile-hilating a once in a lifetime opportunity

Interesting, but a bit odd
This is one of those books where you read it, and while it's about what you think it's about, it's also about something that's really surprising. The main part of the book is predictably about what the title and introduction says it's about: an account of an expedition into the heart of Ethiopia, to travel down the length of the river known as the Blue Nile, which spans the Northern portion of that country. They left the river at the border with the neighboring nation of Sudan.
I agree with A Reader
... when he expressed disappointment about Morrell's constant complaints about the tour guide, Mike Speakes. The book-long litany of criticism for Speakes is what stands out for me - more than the scenery, the people, the history, etc. Morrell suggests that she chose not to address her concerns with Speakes directly out of deference to others in her group. Instead, with the exception of one instance late in the game, she saved all of her venom to share with thousands of readers. I don't know Speakes; I never heard of him before reading this book. I don't know Morrell; I never heard of her before reading her book. I did not read any of the Amazon reviews of the book until after I read the book. What I do know is that Morrell's mean-spirited jibes at Speakes so permeated the story that my opinion of Morrell's character is perhaps as low as she wanted the reader's opinion to be of Speakes. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa - General    2. Blue Nile River (Ethiopia and    3. Blue Nile River (Ethiopia and Sudan)    4. Description And Travel    5. Ethiopia    6. General    7. History - General History    8. Morell, Virginia    9. Special Interest - Adventure    10. Travel    11. Africa    12. Journeys    13. Travel / Adventure    14. Travel writing   

Reviews (9)

The crimes of Mengistu and the Dergue.
This book is almost completely about how the Communist government of Ethiopia misled the West into thinking that a small harvest was the reason for the mass starvation of 1984.Most remember this as the time when the charitable West stepped in with huge donations of grain and musician celebrities formed to perfom Band Aid.It is bad because the main culprit was the dictator Mengistu and his Communist buddies doing forced resettlement, collectivization, and centralized villages.They wanted to win the civil war raging in Ethiopia and install a Marxist government.Millions died, the Hollywood establishment blamed bad weather, and leftists told the West they weren't doing enough.Well the Ethiopian government could have stopped the genocide by stopping its failed policies.
Robert kaplan need more research
The book takes a view of one side approach. I lived in Ethiopia in the 1980's and most of the staff Mr. Kaplan talked about never happened. The historical facts are missing. Emperor Menelik was not the first Amhara king there was Emperor Tewdros form Gojam which is the main Amhara region who united Ethiopia from Red Sea to Showa. Reading the book makes me think that the author had a good close relationship with then gorilla fighters now the people in power in Ethiopia and its former province Eriteria.

The worst book on the Horn of Africa I have ever read
Kaplan's book "Balkan Ghosts" was described by slavist H. Cooper (Slavic Review 52, 1993) as "a dreadful mix of unfounded generalizations, misinformation, outdated sources, personal prejudices and bad writing". The same can be applied to "Surrender or starve". Any specialist could point dozens of minor errors in this book, but lack of scholarship is not the worst. Kaplan is exasperatingly tendentious and partial and his extraordinary simplification and misunderstanding of the conflict in the Horn is outrageous. He overemphasizes the ethnic component, sometimes dangerously approaching racism in his contempt for the Amharas (they are all intrinsically bad). To be sure, the Derg (the communist regime) was evil, but linking a particular culture (the Amharas) with a transient political regime that was imposed against the people's will is absolutely wrong. Besides, anyone minimally informed knows how many Amharas suffered by the resettlement policies of the Derg.
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Subjects:  1. 1974-    2. Africa    3. Africa - East - Ethiopia    4. Africa, Northeast    5. Contemporary Politics - Africa    6. Description and travel    7. Famines    8. Food supply    9. History - General History    10. International Relations - General    11. Political Science    12. Politics and government    13. Politics/International Relations    14. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    15. Political Science / International Relations    16. Political structure & processes   

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. General    3. Pictorials    4. Subjects & Themes - Travel - General    5. Travel    6. Travel - General   

Reviews (2)

Getting past the stereotypes - Ethiopia sounds cool
John Graham obviously has a profound amount of affection and respect for Ethiopia. It's history, culture and joie de vivre. I'm not sure many Anglo-North Americans have thought about Ethipoia as a vacation destination, but Graham's description ofdance bars in the big city, 2000 year old churches, and bustling villages and markets Make it seem far more real than the stereotypes we are used to. Pretty much better than the "sign and the seal"
THis is an "OK" book. Even though I know most of the stories in the book....I believe it did a good job in trying to introduce parts of Ethiopia many folks wouldn't know.:) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Sociology    2. Travel - Foreign    3. Africa    4. Ethiopia    5. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    6. Social Science    7. Guidebooks   

Reviews (7)

From Africa's Horn
I live in Norway, and Africa's Horn is far from my everyday life. I have travelled several times to Eritrea though, and have been searching for guide books from the country. When I went to Eritrea last fall it was with great pleasure I bought the LP book by Frances Linzee Gordon, Ethiopia, Eritrea & Djibouti. LP's best!
As a Lonely Planet author, I'd like to echo the words of other reviewers of this book. This is clearly Lonely Planet's best title - the writing is clear, concise and informative, the asides are entertaining, the tone is objective yet engaging, and Frances Linzee Gordon's photos are nothing short of spectacular. Congratulations, Frances - you've produced a winner!

Great reference book!
A recent front page article in the New York Times on the Lalibela churches in northern Ethiopia sent me running for my LP copy of this book. I was most pleasantly surprised to find over a dozen pages of detailed information on this incredible center of early Christianity. F. Linzee-Gordon's first hand account of a visit to the churches provided a most informative background lacking in the NY Times article. Well done! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Eritrea    5. Ethiopia    6. Travel & holiday guides   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (9)

Really good reading
I haven't had so much fun in a long time. I wanted to go up and down the river with this one. I found it interesting and challenging too.Good book.

I want to run rivers
Having navigated only a few rivers, none of them virgin, my interest was piqued when a former boss of mine told me about this guy Richard Bangs she knows.So I ... read the reviews, ...Suffice it to say I sat down with the book in hand, looked up roughly three hours later, and noticed I finished the book.The last book I recall which captivated me so was Dostoevsky's Notes From Underground. Lost River
Richard Bangs and his Sobek rafting company were clearly the early trend setters in world-wide adventure travel.Those who enjoyed other books by Bangs includingRiver Gods and Riding the Dragon's Back will enjoy this first-hand account of Bangs's early development as a world-class rafter including his teen adventures on the Potomac, his first summer working on the Colorado as a swamper and finally a guide through the Grand, and his first major first descent of the Omo River in Ethiopia.It was the Omo trip, which cost the members a total of $1400, where Sobek beat a well-financed National Geographic expedition by three months to what was then billed as the Mt. Everest of Whitewater, a distinction many now bestow on the Tsangpo in Tibet.Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Essays & Travelogues    3. Special Interest - Adventure    4. Travel    5. Travel - General    6. Active outdoor pursuits    7. Biography & Autobiography / General    8. Ethiopia    9. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    10. Travel writing   

Reviews (14)

Very interesting background on 19th century Sudan and Ethiopia
I have read a lot of history on ancient Egypt and was passingly familiar with Napoleon's conquest of Egypt, however, I had absolutely no background on other aspects of 19th century Egypt and neighboring Sudan and Ethiopia.
Blue Nile
The book is slanted towards the history of battles fought over lands in the region and has only glancing information on things like the arts and culture of the region. The chapters on the French invasion of Egypt does have some interesting observations on the reactions of the various groups to being invaded and occupied that are still relevant and timely.

no title
Totally fascinating book.In particular the saga of the British invasion of Ethiopia merely to rescue a few handfuls of prisoners from the clutches of Theodore, the emperor, would make a terrific movie, but perhaps just now, not too terribly PC, as Theodore does not come off in a very good light (to say the least), and of course he is black.Also charts Napoleon's invasion of Egypt.It is basically a study of the history of the Nile in the 19th century, well only until 1868, when the British left, and a brief epilogue about the Blue Nile in the 20th century until the 70s when the book was revised.The other two expeditions recounted were the one of James Bruce, the Scotsman, and Mohammed Ali's campaigns in the Sudan in the early 1820s.Suberb. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa - Central    2. Blue Nile River (Ethiopia and Sudan)    3. Expeditions & Discoveries    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Nile River Valley    8. Rivers    9. Special Interest - Adventure    10. Travel    11. Travel / Adventure   

Subjects:  1. Ethiopia    2. Travel writing   

Subjects:  1. 1924-    2. Description and travel    3. Ethiopia    4. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    5. General    6. Henze, Paul B.,    7. Social Science    8. Sociology   

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. General    3. Classic travel writing    4. Ethiopia    5. Geographical discovery & exploration    6. Journeys    7. Lobo, Jerónimo    8. Other prose: 16th to 18th centuries   

Reviews (2)

the best
I think it goes without saying by this point, but this is by far the best book you could buy about travel in Ethiopia, I've read it about 3 times over now and I still really enjoy it.Theres not much out there about travel to Ethiopia, but even if there was, this book would stand head and shoulders above the rest

A Reliable Introduction to an Exotic Land
Guide books to Ethiopia are few and far between. However, the Spectrum Guide is all you will need to get an accurate glimpse into this far-away and often misunderstood land just now beginning to be touristed by the outside world.Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Ethiopia    3. General    4. Guidebooks    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Historical geography    8. Museum, historic sites, gallery & art guides    9. Places & peoples: general interest   

Reviews (8)

Kevin Rushbylied
In this book, he said it doesn't take very much Qat to get a high. Kevin Sites documents that he tried the leaves and he said it would take a huge bundle of qat to feel even anything.

Taking the high road to Qat'land
Ever since I was a kid, I've always wanted to visit Yemen.Like author Kevin Rushby, I didn't want to do research there, earn money there,. or take anything away from Yemen.I just wanted to see, hear, feel, and know what that faroff land was like.Thanks to my dear President and his warloving cronies, I now have a snowball's chance in hell of ever achieving my dream.Keep on shootin' George, you'll definitely solve all problems that way.I must say, though, that the next best thing to a Yemen trip could be reading EATING THE FLOWERS OF PARADISE.Though the story of the author's voyage centers around qat, a leaf from a tree which grows in Ethiopia and Yemen, whose leaves are chewed to induce a feeling of dreamy well-being and melancholy happiness, this is a travel book par excellence.While Rushby starts his solo voyage in Ethiopia, his lack of local language, and the general lack of information about Ethiopia other than what he sees and does himself, do not entrance the reader. (Nor does he travel in the more interesting parts of the country.)He meets some wild characters [a Nigerian gem smuggler named Cedric or Arthur or...?] and has a few strange adventures in Djibouti, on the Red Sea coast.It is when he lands in Yemen that the book really gets good.Rushby speaks some Arabic.Yemeni rural people come alive in this book, their villages, the hospitality of all, the terraced mountains where qat, coffee, and other crops are grown, the magnificent, rugged scenery of remote parts of the country.Readers may pick up some recent history, some facts about former times, and details of qat growing and use, but this is a very existential travel book, not given to long-winded explanations.Rushby makes no bones about it.He wandered the Yemeni "outback" looking for good highs.He found plenty.Chewing qat with the locals was an excellent way to integrate himself in Yemeni society, where large numbers of people chew qat every afternoon.Rushby records all sorts of bizarre or culturally fascinating incidents.Some of the bizarre ones have to do with his own behavior and qat-induced dreams. When I finished the book, if someone had offered me a ticket to Yemen, I would have flown out that very evening.Sadly, this colorful, fascinating book is as close as I'll ever get.Two other books on Yemen that make a great trio with Rushby's book are "Motoring with Mohammed" by Eric Hansen, and Steven Caton's "Peaks of Yemen I Summon".
A Fantastic Trip
Kevin is a good artist.He vividly describes his travels, and you feel that you are there.For those places in Yemen where I have been, I felt like I was there again.He is accurate in his descriptions, as well as poetic- a rare art.His book is focused on a destination- traveling the old qat route, and this helps give more cohesiveness then you find in most travelogues.There is a rare vivid description of demonic manifestation and folk Islamic exorcism, in great detail.As an added bonus, the ubiquitous Tim Makintosh-Smith shows up again, as he seems to do in every book about Yemen.We can see some of the same journeys Tim reports in Yemen, but from the perspective of his fellow traveler.And there is even an oblique reference to the boat of Eric Hansen from Motoring with Mohammed.
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Subjects:  1. Anthropology - General    2. Essays & Travelogues    3. Ethnic Studies - General    4. Social Science    5. Sociology    6. Substance Abuse & Addictions - Drug Dependence    7. Travel - General    8. Travel / Essays & Travelogues