"I was utterly engrossed by this novel, with its convincing blend of fiction and African history." -Thomas Keneally

Bereket Habte Selassie has written a truly gripping epic novel which is absolutely thrilling. This is a historical novel of modern times, full of intricacies and suspenseful drama.

The main events of this novel occur in Ethiopia during the revolutionary period of 1969-1974, ending with the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie.

The chief protagonist, Desta, is a well-placed official of the Emperor's government who is a close confidant of the Prime Minister and is at the same time a member of aun underground revolutionary movement. He also has a complicated love life. The tension implicit in his dual roles between his private and public life gives Desta's odyssey its peculiar quality against a fascinating social milieu and political drama. Indeed, Desta, the narrator/partcipant, has the ability to get the reader's interest by maintaining a wonderful balance between his dual roles.

"Mr. Bereket has shown both candor and courage. The novel goes beyond being a mere object of aesthetic contemplation, and asserts itself as a political testament as well as a lesson in history." -Yana Admassu, UFAHAMU

"Even those unfamiliar with the momentous events of Ethiopian history in 1974 will find Bereket Habte Selassie's novel fascinating. For those whose lives were in any way touched by those events, the book offers dramatic and evocative reenactment of that historic episode." -Donald N. Levine, Professor, The University of Chicago

"This suspenseful and deeply-felt novel provides a fascinating picture of Ethiopia's social earthquake of the early 1970s. With his affecting dram about a decent, conscience-stricken young official's personal and political odyssey, Bereket Habte Selassie has given us a wise insider's insights into the 'revolution with a human face' that disintegrated into one of the horrors of the century." -Richard Lipez

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BEREKET HABTE SELASSIE is a professor of Law and Politics at the University of North Caroline at Chapel Hill. He is a practitioner and a scholar of law and politics. This fact is reflected in his writings. he is the author of The Executive in African Government, Conflict and Intervention in the Horn of Africa, Behind the War in Eritrea (editor and contributor), and Eritrea and the United Nations (RSP 1989), among other works. Dr. BEREKET has served as the Commissioner of the Constitutional Commission of Eritrea (1974-1997). This is his first novel.

CATEGORY
Fiction/AFRICA