The original pioneering text in African economic history holds its value with the second edition of Economic History of Ethiopia. This comprehensive title beams with intricate details and enlightening insights about the economic structures and practices in Ethiopian society in the nineteenth century and provides a compelling platform for theories and conclusions to be drawn. This second edition – the first printed in 1968 when African economic history was in its inception – retains its value despite the dramatic changes and struggles over the past four decades. Pankhurst’s novel is booming with data but also rich in description brought to life with beautiful illustrations. It is a competitive force in the field of African economic history and presents the key questions pressing today’s writers of African economy.

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Preface

Chapter I - Political and Diplomatic Background

Chapter II - Division of Labour, Employment, Status, and the Role of Foreigners

Chapter III - Slavery and the Slave Trade

Chapter IV - Land Tenure

Chapter V - Agriculture

Chapter VI - Natural Resources and Their Utilisation

Chapter VII - Handcrafts

Chapter VIII - Transport and Communications

Chapter IX - Trade

Chapter X - “Primitive Money”, Currency and Banking

Chapter XI - Taxation and Government Revenues

Chapter XII - The Army

Chapter XIII - Health

Chapter XIV - Education

Chapter XV - Urban Development and the Establishment of Addis Ababa

Chapter XVI - Conclusion

Chapter XVII - Bibliography

Index

“Unencumbered by faddish theorizing, [Economic History of Ethiopia] gives us a vast and intricate portrait of the Ethiopian economy and society, the political system that undergirded it, the prosaic activities that characterized it, the episodic watershed developments that transformed it, and the structures that sustained it.”

—Paul Zeleza, Ph.D., Dean of the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, LMU

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“Nothing remotely comparable has yet to appear for the equally important 1935-1975 period. Economic History remains a standard reference for those who wish to take a stab at such puzzles and conundrums as Ethiopia’s continuing inability to produce a robust fiscal system that undergirds political order and economic security[...]”

—Berhanu Abegaz, Professor of Economics at College of William and Mary

Professor Richard Pankhurst is Sylvia Pankhurst's only child and was an adult throughout much of the period covered by this book. Using largely unpublished materials, he traces his mother's opposition to Italian Fascism and advocacy of Ethiopian independence.

The author, who bore witness to his mother's political activities on behalf of Ethiopia, and other victims of Fascism, is a historian of the country where he resides with his wife Rita. He has written extensively on many aspects of Ethiopian history, and is the author of a biography of his mother's earlier life, Sylvia Pankhurst: Artist.