Against All Odds: A Chronicle of the Eritrean Revolution With a New Afterword on the Postwar Transiton

Rating:
Summary: A Comrade's Diary
Review: There's not much material out there on Africa's longest running civil war, which is depressing for newcomers to the history of this conflict. Of what does exist, Connell's narrative is a valuable look into life with the Eritrean rebels seeking to split from a brutish Ethiopian state. In this book we find him getting strafed by Ethiopian jets, suffering through long desert hikes behind the lines, and reporting on the refugee situation. It is a fascinating look at the politics of rebel Eritrea and the collateral damage of warfare in the Horn of Africa.

As he states at the beginning, Connell is sympathetic to the EPLF (Eritrean Popular Liberation Front). So other than high-level news reports, you don't get much consideration of what's going on outside rebel(EPLF)-occupied Eritrea. The account is quite one-sided, even against the other rebel groups operating in Eritrea. The EPLF was a Marxist-oriented revolutionary movement from the beginning. Much of the book is devoted to educating the reader on the EPLF's great progress in pulling off land reforms, sharing Maoist "political education" with the rural population, and teaching the worker exploitation inherent in capitalism. All of which can be skimmed and discarded, but it takes away from the main strength of the book: that he was one of only a few reporters on the ground to witness much of Africa's most bizarre conflict. I wanted to learn more about the offensives, why the Soviets got involved, and what was going on from a big picture level. Reading endless detail about EPLF comrades setting up farm cooperatives in rural villages was not terribly exciting.

The definitive book on the Ethiopian/Eritrean war has not yet been written. But Connell's "Against All Odds" will give you insight into the struggles of the main leftist guerrilla group and their experience between 1977-1991.

PS- For war buffs, this book is a little light on its treatment of the battles and the maps included reveal few details.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: This is an excellent book:I recommend it for anybody interested in history of the Eritrean struggle.This book, written by an author who, in the process had a near death experience( Missed by a fighter jet!!) ,offers a very realistic and indepth look at the longest civil war in Africa.It happens to be one of the few books wriiten about a traumatic and tragic time for the people of Eritrea. The author ,a journalist,whose intention was to cover Africa from Cairo to Johannesburg was caught up in development in Addis Ababa(Ethiopian capital).For the next couple of decades has practically been part of the struggle.He shares his experience and insigths in this book. The book begins with a raid into Asmara (Eritrean capiltal)by the then guerrila figthers.Then the reader is taken deep into rebel territory in the sahel mountains for an upclose and personal with the "tegadelti" liberation fighters. It gives a very vivid account several battles and the descrptions of them by both rank and file guerrilas and the highest commanders. You will meet in the book courageous souls who survived a thousand mile subsea level trek.You will meet...Fana,stereotypcal Eritrean highlander woman who was just as rebelious to tyranny as the ones actually figting it out with an AK47. The book explores the reasons behind the conflict (eventhougth not as detailed as the struggle itself).It presents a decent view of the oppossing sides. It is one of the most exciting and educational books I have ever read.

Rating:
Summary: If you read on book one eritrea, read this one.
Review: This was the first book that i bought one a recent trip to Eritrea and although it may be bias in favor of Eritrea, and the EPLF it is rightly so to counter act all of the Eithiopian propraganda that the west gets. this is a first hand acount of what the author saw for himself during the 30 year conflict with Ethiopia. it is a great read with a lot of the authors own feeligs and stories. this is a great way to get away from the dry military history of, this tank went there, the army moved there, this division had this big gun here style. I bet if you read this book you will not be able to explain african politics in short little articals like one would find in newspapers and weeklys. the reader will find that the world and africa are more compicated then we like to belive, and that africans, and in this case Eritreans can make a nation with out the heavy hand of western help.