Trials and Tribulations

Literary Nonfiction. Memoir. African & African American Studies. Middle Eastern Studies. Edited by Bridget Flanagan. Few countries in the world suffered more from the trials and tribulations of the 20th century than Ethiopia and its sister, Eritrea. From Italian and British colonialism through fascism to the bloody communist dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Meriam, to mass starvation and civil war, the people of those countries have endured and, despite everything, have triumphed. Alazar Tesfamichael lived through all of it. He walked on foot through Africa and the Middle East in search of a better life; and, with every fiber of his being, kept alive his passionate love of freedom. This is his story in his own words.