num_pages: 480
description: Scarred by decades of conflict and occupation, the craggy African nation of Eritrea has weathered the world's longest-running guerrilla war. The dogged determination that secured victory against Ethiopia, its giant neighbor, is woven into the national psyche, the product of cynical foreign interventions. Fascist Italy wanted Eritrea as the springboard for a new, racially pure Roman empire; Britain sold off its industry for scrap; the United States needed a base for its state-of-the-art spy station; and the Soviet Union used it as a pawn in a proxy war. In I Didn't Do It for You , Michela Wrong reveals the breathtaking abuses this tiny nation has suffered and, with a sharp eye for detail and a taste for the incongruous, tells the story of colonialism itself and how international power politics can play havoc with a country's destiny.
language: English
title: I Didn't Do It for You: How the World Betrayed a Small African Nation
titlecomplete: I Didn't Do It for You: How the World Betrayed a Small African Nation
genres: Eritrea, 20th Century, Contemporary, History, Politics, Ethiopia, War, Africa, Travel, Nonfiction
ratings_count: 1293
awards: awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: Orwell Prize
publisher: Harper Perennial