In this readable and concise history of Ethiopia, Harold Marcus surveys the evolution of the oldest African nation from prehistory to the present. Based on a thorough reading of post-World War II scholarship, Marcus demonstrates that there is more to Ethiopia's existence than the ambitions of any one group. While Ethiopia has from time to time separated into component parts, it has never disappeared as an idea and has always reappeared in fact.

Marcus concludes that now, as in the past, geography, economics, and culture will, in the end, prevail in uniting Ethiopia's diverse peoples against the forces of ethnic and religious factionalization.