Perspective

Kapuscinski was a Polish journalist who came to Ethiopia several times in order to understand the reign and fall of Emperor Haile Selassie I. His interest in Ethiopia's political history is complex. On the one hand, it is hard to imagine that the political situation of Poland did not factor in to this work. Poland at that time was being oppressed by a Communist dictatorship and surely his largely Polish audience (the book was originally published in Polish and only translated to English much later) would find parallels both between the Emperor's regime and the military regime which followed it.

On the other hand, Kapuscinski is legitimately interested in understanding Ethiopia. His interest is not narrowly confined to exposing political, social, or economic justice. In short, he does not style himself another Jonathan Dimbleby. In the sections of the book he wrote himself, Kapuscinski does point out many...