Understanding Somalia and Somaliland
Culture, History, Society
Published on 1. October 2008
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-0-231-70084-9 (ISBN)
Description
Ioan Lewis details the history and culture of the Somali people, providing a unique window into this little-known culture and its increasingly public predicaments. He provides insight into the complex social, historical, and cultural hinterland that is the Somali heritage and pays close attention to the pervasive influence of traditional nomadism, especially its decentralized nature. Lewis also addresses developments in the Somali political region since the collapse of the Republic in 1991, including the formation and steady development of the democratic state of Somaliland. Though it has grown into a de facto personality, this self-governing outpost of democracy is still officially unrecognized internationally. Lewis concludes with a discussion of the Islamist movement that brought a brief but astonishing period of stability to much of Southern Somalia in late 2006.
Reviews / Votes
This type of essential description and assessment of a culture and a history can come only from an author so permeated by his subject that writing about it flows in the smooth fashion of a natural phenomenon. If there is one clear lesson that emerges from Ioan Lewis's precise and sweeping assessment it is that Somalia is a walking and moving exception to many rules about the nation-state. Required reading for anyone dealing with Somalia, from diplomats and journalists to NGOs and members of the United Nations. -- Gerard Prunier, author of The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide A sober guide to... why Somalia is much more complicated than most foreigners and diplomats pretend, is Ioan Lewis of the London School of Economics--Britain's, if not the world's, foremost expert on that country. His Understanding Somalia and Somaliland is an excellent short introduction to the tribal, geographic, and historical complexities of a place he has studied, lived in, and visited for several decades. -- Carne Ross New StatesmanMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 203 mm
Width: 127 mm
Weight
0 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-231-70084-9 (9780231700849)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
11/2011
Columbia University Press
€23.92
Withdrawn from sale