Contemporary history on the grand scale. I was entertained, informed and angered. Wrong has given us another essential contribution to the post-colonial scramble for Africa.' John le Carre 'Vivid, penetrating, wonderfully detailed. Michela Wrong has written the biography of a nation and more -- she has excavated the very heart and soul of the Eritrean people and their country.' Aminatta Forna 'If you thought Eritrea was some exotic flower you heard mentioned on a gardening programme this book will tell you something different. It tells the tale of a small group of Africans so despised and trampled by successive foreign occupations that they fought back and after 30 years of war, they became a nation. It is an astounding story packed with tales of the worst -- and the best -- of human behaviour.' Richard Dowden, President of the Royal African Society 'This is a wonderful, readable and illuminating book. Michela Wrong is an enormously talented writer!thoroughly researched and deeply engaging and honest.' Clare Short -- New Statesman 'Impressive ! Wrong offers an uplifting testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Eminently readable and full of fascinating detail, this is a book that deserves and needs to be read' Guardian '[A] corker ! fascinating and tragic. Wrong's writing flows so smoothly that it is only after 100 pages or so that you notice how much legwork she has put in [and] she tracks down a startling array of characters' Daily Telegraph 'A lyrical, intensely intelligent and wonderfully readable history of Eritrea ! beautifully written' Independent