| | The enduring conflict in Eritrea has stirred some interest in the regions colonial background which is regarded as having set the stage for its turbulent history subsequently. Most of what has appeared in English, however, is in summery form and is designed to support or refute claims made by the parties to the present conflict. More sound work has been done by the Italian historians who have delved into their country's labyrinthine colonial archives; the latest contribution being Irma Taddia's Eritrea - Colonia, 1890-1952 (Milano, 1986). Constrained by the nature of their sources, their work does not intrude deeply into the world of the colonised, the Eritreans, save as objects of colonial designs. The work reviewed here, a published doctoral dissertation, falls in the same category. The author, who is of Eritrean origin, relies on archival sources 'to assess the political impact of colonialism on Eritrean society through an analysis of colonial economic, educational and native policies as well as praxis' . |
