"For too long, the telling of Eritrea's pre-independence history was largely stripped of Eritrean voices, insights and agency. In these pages, Alemseged Tesfai fills that lacuna and corrects that imbalance. This scholar, playwright, novelist and former resistance fighter has done global history a massive service, probing a key chapter in his country's history in his usual succinct, accessible writing style. The culmination of a lifetime's work, this book is a towering achievement." -- Michela Wrong, journalist and author of I Didn't Do It For You and Borderlines"Often it's so hard for writers on African history to untangle complicated legacies without falling into bias, even if unconsciously. Tesfai has surmounted these obstacles to produce an account of Eritrea's narrative that is both enlightening and exciting. This will in my view become the authoritative account against which all that follow must be measured." -- Giles Foden, author of The Last King of Scotland, Zanzibar, and Freight D"In his characteristically engaging style, Tesfai provides a fascinating intervention on the thorny history of Eritrean nationalism, ensuring that the impeccably well-researched stories and struggles of its Eritrean protagonists rightfully lie at its center.

" -- Georgia Cole, Chancellor's Fellow, University of Edinburgh"Eritrea's war veteran, scholar and author Alemseged Tesfai has skillfully written an exceptionally original and comprehensive book, covering Eritrean politics during the two critical decades immediately preceding the Eritrean war of independence." -- Gebre Hiwet Tesfagiorgis, Director of Institutional Research Emeritus, Iowa State University"Tesfai, Eritrean writer par excellence, has masterfully delivered an authoritative history of Eritrea during the turbulent 1940s-60s. Essential reading for anyone interested in Eritrea and the Horn during this period as well as the present." -- Awet Tewelde Weldemichael, Professor and Queen's National Scholar, Queen's University.