Sandy Curle: Letters home from liberated Ethiopia 1941-1945

In his vivid letters home to his father in the Scottish Borders, Sandy Curle (1900-80) paints an engaging picture of 1940s Ethiopia - supported by over 100 illustrations and comprehensive explanatory notes.

During the liberation, Sandy had led his Ethiopian irregular troops up from Kenya, but he had not seen his wife for three years or their new daughter - the editor of this book - at all. As part of the new Ethiopian government, he observes tensions between the restored Haile Selassie and the veterans of colonial administration.

Sent to Jimma in 1943 to advise the governor of the south-west, he wins the trust of the 'old school' Ras Birru, and helps support the Emperor's modernising policies on the ground. His family is at last able to join him here in 1944 after an adventurous wartime voyage.

Full of telling detail, the letters bring alive a complex society recovering from the unpredictable and brutal Italian occupation. Sandy's extensive social circle includes friends across the nations from his 20 years in East Africa, old comrades and, of course, Scots. He shares with us his wide interests in archaeology, religion and the natural world together with domestic worries and family drama.

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"This book of most engaging letters describes the rebirth of the Ethiopian Christian empire from two vantage points, the cosmopolitan capital of Addis Ababa and the rich provincial center of Jimma, giving the book a unique view of a major turning point in Ethiopian history.

These collected letters give a fascinating insider's view of an Ethiopia liberated from fascist Italian rule. The editors have retained the author's pronounced and often not a political correct voice. It has a distinct focus on his relationship with and the life of, a traditional Ethiopian lord, the illegitimate son of a previous powerful emperor. Revelations of corruption, semi slavery, old time adventurers and petty thievery abound. A fascinating read much to be recommended.

Written by an adviser of Emperor Haile Sellasie, this book's foundation is a series of most engaging letters written by a son to his father which follow the end of the Italian East African Empire and the rebirth of the Ethiopian empire. They describe the cosmopolitan and quirky capital of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa) and then focus on the distant Muslim provincial capital of Christian Ethiopia, Jimma. There the author was hosted by its historic Muslim Sultan and the aristocratic Ethiopian lord appointed by the Emperor to rule arguably the country's richest province. This is a must read to understand the fascinating and complex immediate post WWII background of modern Ethiopia, describing the re-establishment of the Ethiopian empire after the Italian conquest.

A fascinating primary source on Ethiopia with political, economic and social information not to be found in any other published source. The book is excellently edited and has very fine illustrations."

FROM Professor Peter Garretson, Florida State University and biographer of Dr. Hakim Warquenah