Prevail : the inspiring story of Ethiopia's victory over Mussolini's invasion, 1935-1941

677 Pages·2014·7.64 MB·English

by  Jeff Pearce

Copyright © 2014 by Jeff Pearce Foreword © 2014 by Richard Pankhurst Excerpts from The Life of My
Choice are reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
©1987 Wilfred Thesiger
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
Cover design by Anthony Morais
Top cover photo: Courtesy private collection of Borre Winckel Bottom cover photo credit: From Ethiopia
Under Haile Selassie, Sandford, J. M. Dent & Sons (Orion Publishing Group), 1946.
Print ISBN: 978-1-62914-528-0
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63220096-9
Printed in the United States of America
CONTENTS
Dedication
List of Illustrations and Photo Credits
Foreword by Richard Pankhurst
Note on Names
Maps
PART ONE: RESIST
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Duce and the Eternal City
Chapter 2: The Negus and the New Flower
Chapter 3: A Silent Room in Stresa
Chapter 4: Bluster
Chapter 5: Colors of Conscience
Chapter 6: The Brink
Chapter 7: “I Hope the Organmen Gas Them to Buggery”
PART TWO: ENDURE
Chapter 8: War
Chapter 9: A Season of Betrayals
Chapter 10: Schemes . . .
Chapter 11: . . . And Downfalls
Chapter 12: The Rain That Burns and Kills
Chapter 13: The Old Man on the Mountain
Chapter 14: “. . . If You Think It Better to Come Here and Die with Us . . .”
Chapter 15: A King’s Lonely Prayer
PART THREE: PREVAIL
Chapter 16: Taken Up to Rome
Chapter 17: “What Answer Am I to Take Back to My People?”
Chapter 18: The Pride of Lions
Chapter 19: Abattoir
Chapter 20: Eden Bows Out
Chapter 21: A Volcano, Permanently Simmering
Chapter 22: Day of Deliverance
Chapter 23: Champagne and Jazz Records
Chapter 24: “That Was Another War”
Chapter 25: Epilogue of Stones
Notes
Acknowledgments
Select Bibliography
Index
DEDICATION
There are some writers who are so good that you wish you knew them. I have
never dedicated a book before to someone deceased, but in working on this
project I came to deeply admire the brilliant prose, the scrappy courage, and the
natural integrity of George Steer. So this book is, in part, respectfully dedicated
to his memory.
It is also dedicated to the Ethiopian Patriots.
And it’s offered respectfully to the Ethiopian people, in the hope that I have
done right by their history.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND PHOTO
CREDITS
Maps
Maps designed by Dennis Chan.
1. Ethiopia, 1935
2. First Battle of Tembien
3. Battle of Enderta
4. Second Battle of Tembien
5. Battle of Shire
Photos
The Modern Caesar: Mussolini reviews his troops. Courtesy CriticalPast.
The Hunted Lion: Haile Selassie. From Ethiopia Under Haile Selassie, Sandford,
J.M. Dent & Sons (Orion Publishing Group).
Sidney Barton, British Minister, at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 1929 to 1936.
Photo courtesy of George Steer.
Ethiopian Imperial Guard. From Italy’s Conquest of Abyssinia, Newman,
Thornton Butterworth, 1937.
Ethiopian village. From Italy’s Conquest of Abyssinia, Newman, Thornton
Butterworth, 1937.
The Defenders: Ras Imru, Ras Seyum, and Ras Kassa. From Ethiopia Under Haile
Selassie, Sandford, J.M. Dent & Sons (Orion Publishing Group), 1946.
Diplomacy’s Galahad: Anthony Eden goes into 10 Downing Street in early 1935.
Courtesy CriticalPast.
The Brave Front: Delegates for the Stresa Conference. Courtesy CriticalPast.
Hands Off Ethiopia: Part of the Harlem protests on August 3, 1935. Courtesy
CriticalPast.
Harlem Recruitment. PARA signs up volunteers to fight for Ethiopia in July,
1935. Courtesy CriticalPast.
The Black Eagle: Hubert Julian. Courtesy CriticalPast.
The Brown Condor: John Robinson. From the Harold Hurd Collection.
Pietro Badoglio. From Italy’s Conquest of Abyssinia, Newman, Thornton
Butterworth.
Rodolfo Graziani. From Italy’s Conquest of Abyssinia, Newman, Thornton
Butterworth.
Haile Selassie Gugsa. From Italy’s Conquest of Abyssinia, Newman, Thornton
Butterworth.
Herbert Matthews at Ende Yesus. Courtesy Eric Matthews.
Correspondents at Ende Yesus. Courtesy Eric Matthews.