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

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

Book Review: A Comrade's Diary
Summary: 3 Stars

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.

Eritrea Books

• History > Africa
• Ethiopia
• General
• World > General
• Nonfiction > Politics > History & Theory
• Social Sciences > Special Groups > African-American Studies