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I Didn't Do It For You
How The World Betrayed A Small African Nation
by Michela Wrong


10.0

based on 13 reviews
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based on 3 votes
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Official Publisher Site

Wrong examines the harm done to the tiny African nation of Eritrea by decades of foreign meddling by Italy, the United States, Great Britain, and other countries.

HarperCollins, 448 pages
06/01/2005
$25.95

ISBN: 0060780924

Nonfiction
Current Events & Politics
History

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Kirkus Reviews

Wrong's fiery prose boils the blood and burns infamy into the memory.

The Economist

Wrong's second book... is, if anything, better than her first. Her original research is more illuminating, her eye more observant, her writing far more wry and witty.

The Guardian Justin Hill

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.

The Independent Julie Wheelwright

Wrong has... written a lyrical, intensely intelligent and wonderfully readable history of Eritrea, offering a cogent explanation for its seeming failures.

The Spectator James Astill

In myriad perfectly observed details, and above all in the spirit of Eritrea’s cussed people, [Wrong] finds cause for hope.

Publishers Weekly

A complicated history so punctuated with violence is not exactly easy to read about, but [Wrong's] extraordinary grasp of the postcolonial psyche and tormented national identity of this country makes it fascinating.

Houston Chronicle Steve Weinberg

[Wrong's] book, while clear-eyed about imperfections of Eritreans, is a valentine to a nation abused again and again by outsiders.

The New York Times William Grimes

Eloquent and impassioned.

Daily Telegraph Robert Guest

It is the details that make Wrong's account so gripping.

Washington Post Susan E. Rice

An outsider struggling to convey the essence of another nation's character may be tempted to simplify -- a temptation to which... Wrong succumbs in her new book.

The New York Times Book Review Stephanie Giry

[An] engaging history of a forgotten country.

Wall Street Journal Martin Hutchinson

Wrong might have devoted more space to the region's long precolonial history before judging the effects of European transgressions.

The Nation Andrew Rice

In devastating detail, Wrong excavates the motivations and machinations of Eritrea's various self-interested overlords and shows how this small, determined nation learned to fight back, finally winning the thing it desired most: its freedom. But in the end, as perceptive as she is, Wrong can't quite explain her story's final, cruelest and most intriguing twist: how Eritrea came to betray itself.

The average user rating for this book is 10.0 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Yohannes B gave it a10:
I would like to thank you for writing a book about my beloved country Eritrea. You have done outstanding research on the issues of Kagnew station and the eritrean rebel movement. The best book I ever read.

B aba Semir gave it a10:
Best book I ever read this year. Michela superbly describes the details of Eritrea in an accurate manner. Highly recommended from someone who has lived in Eritrea for 20 years. Loved it!!

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I Didn't Do It For You How The World Betrayed A Small African Nation by Michela Wrong

I Didn't Do It For You
How The World Betrayed A Small African Nation
by Michela Wrong