Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface
Introduction
The Inherited Tradition
Gabra Krestos Takla Haymanot and the History of Progress
Gabra Mika'el Germu and the History of Colonialism
Heruy Walda Sellase and the New Queen of Sheba
The Triumph of Historicism?
Conclusion
Abbreviations
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Reviews

An admirable and surprising work, based on very original and thorough research...rich and thought-provoking.
*HISTORY OF HUMANITIES*

De Lorenzi has unearthed the hitherto unstudied works of important figures in the tiny literary space of the Horn of Africa at the turn of the twentieth century. His work is a unique contribution to Ethiopian historiography in particular and African historiography in general.
*AFRICAN STUDIES REVIEW*

The century-long study of Ethio-Eritrean tradition has never been crowned with such an objective, scientific definition as in Guardians of the Tradition . . . [It] shows remarkable insight into a complicated and sensitive problem at the very basis of Ethio-Eritrean studies, for which contribution scholars will be grateful.
*JOURNAL OF AFRICAN HISTORY*

'De Lorenzi has produced a book of admirable scholarship; it combines exhaustive archival research, attentiveness to the local and international contexts and currents, lively personal biography and historical theory.
*AFRICA AT LSE BLOG*

A crucial reference work for Ethiopian intellectual history . . . Guardians of the Tradition is argued clearly and convincingly, with evidence inferred from a wide array of primary sources. [A]n engaging and informative read.
*CANADIAN JOURNAL OF AFRICAN STUDIES*

The creativity and richness of Ethiopian historical writing forcefully challenge the argument that historiography is a product of Western modernity and a Western export -- a point rather obvious for Africanists, but not so obvious in the field of history at large, which De Lorenzi attacks for its 'parochialism' and 'latent Eurocentrism.
*AFRICA*

Insightful, painstakingly researched, and innovative in its selection and sensitive to changing regional and international contexts . . . [De Lorenzi] has opened up new vistas to readers of the concerns, conventions, and analytical categories of public intellectuals who combined traditional and modern concepts in the construction of Ethiopian historiography. Ruth Iyob, University of Missouri, St. Louis
*.*

De Lorenzi is a remarkable scholar . . . This topic . . . is rarely treated in such a sweeping geographical-historical framework . . . An ongoing debate, a stimulating topic. (Irma Taddia, Università di Bologna)
*AETHIOPICA*

A major milestone in the growing field of Ethiopian intellectual history . . . This is one of the most important books written to date on the development of historical writing in Africa in the early twentieth century.
*ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW*