King of Kings: The Triumph and Tragedy of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia Kindle Edition

Mr. Thomas Pakenham said in in the forwarded section :1, “Ethiopian nobles who had chosen Ras Tafari (as the future emperor to become regent after the overthrow of Emperor Lij Iyasu”. To begin with, Ras Tafari was close to the line than Lej Eyasu was. Since Emperor Minelk didn’t have a son gave the throne to Lej Eyasu, his daughter’s son instead of Ras Tafari. At the the time , Ras Tafari’s father, Ras Meconen had died and Ras Tafari was alone (his mother already had died when he was a child). By the way, Lij Iyasu wasn’t crowned so he can’t be called “Emperor Lij Iyasu” just Lij Iyasu). And that wasn’t really what happened. There are countless books written in Amharic by individuals who were there and then about Lij Iyasu’s misbehavior starting from not following Ethiopian Kibre Negest regulation and going against Orthodox Christian Church to his close friendship with Arabs, who were Ethiopian enemies at the time, claiming that he and them are brothers (indeed, his father King Michael of Wello was a Muslim, but after being converted to Orthodox Christianity, he married Emperor Minilk’ daughter) to not informing Ethiopian people Emperor Minelk’s death (he claimed he was only sick) and house arresting of Queen Tayetu (Adwa War’s heroine) for four years. Ethiopian nobles overthrew Lij Iyasu simply because he didn’t follow the idn’t like many things he did. After overthrowing him, they made Emperor Minilk’s daughter a Queen and Ras Tafari crown prince which was the right thing to do.2, The book also says “ The fact Ras Kassa was Tafari’s cousin and had a better dynastic claim to the throne than Tafari, as his family was descended not only from the Shoan branch of the Solomonic line, which had ruled Ethiopia since 1889, but also from the Imperial Gondarine-Lasta line, which had ruled the country in previous centuries” The problem with this is claim is that Gondarine-Lasta Period was done and finished. Solomonic line (the decedent of King Salmon and Queen Sheba’s son King Minelk the First) (Shawa) wasn’t the continuation of Imperial Gondarine-Lasta line. Solomonic line is a whole new period. The requirement was Solomonic line and only Solomonic line. In Solomonic line. Ras Tafari was the closest . Therefore, Ras Kassa Tafari’s cousin or Ras Kassa’s father didn’t have a better dynastic claim to the throne than Ras Tafari. Moving forward, one can say a lot about what Lij Iyasu, his Wello family including his grand nephew Crown Prince Asfaw Wesen, who conspired with others to take over the throne from his majesty (thanks to God, Ethiopian military and Ethiopian people) they didn’t succeed. What everyone also didn’t realize (many still don’t) was that it was the Crown Prince Asfaw Wesen who was the Governor of Wello at he time of the famine which His Majesty was blamed for. It was due to the Crown Prince’s neglect that Wello’s people died of hunger. ( He didn’t inform anyone including the Emperor what was going on in Wello at the time) but, for the sake of Ethiopia’s Unity somethings are left better unsaid. (unless, of course, it becomes unavoidable necessity) In final note, as his Majesty’s father said to his relatives and servicemen “I entrust to you, with God, my son Tafari. His fate is in the hands of the Creator, but I commend him to you lest you should bear him ill will” the Almighty God decided for His Majesty to be King of Kings and nothing and no one will diminish that.

This engaging book is a series of reflections from the grandnephew of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. It describes the life and work of the emperor in a dated chronology, from his early years, his accession to the throne and his deposition in 1974. The last Ethiopian Emperor's famous struggles with Mussolini's Italy, his relationship with Britain and the US, his world travels and celebrity and his autocratic methods of governance are all described in fair and balanced terms. I found the final years of imperial Ethiopia to be the most confounding: how and why the emperor let power slip through his hands by his excessive trust in his military as those officers slowly eliminated the imperial administration, finally assuming authority and deposing (and then assassinating) the emperor himself. Recommended for those interested in Ethiopia, Haile Selassie or governance by absolute monarchy.

Prince Asfa Wossen has done justice to the legacy of H.I.M Haile Selassie I with this important work. As the author himself points out this biography is not an academic piece, but rather a personal view of the ascent and demise of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I. As a cousin of the Emperor and the son of His Majesty's "right hand" and closest confidant Ras Asserate Kasa, Prince Asfa Wossen has unique insights into and deeply personal accounts of the life and times of the last of Ethiopia's Solomonic rulers. Though the kindle edition contains some typographical errors and syntactic oddities here and there, this work is a must read for Ethiopianists and anyone who desires a fuller understanding of the humanity and historical significance of the King of Kings, Emperor Haile Selassie I.

A well written biography told through a member of the Salaisee's family. Not to be written as an academic piece but rather accounts told by family members, friends, members of his court and others who had personal encounters with the King of Kings. I read the book not knowing much of his life or accomplishments but just rhetoric I've heard throughout my life. This book opened me to the complicate person he was, that chartered his upbringing, rise, downfall, his second rise and his tragic decline.

Fascinating story on the life of an African legend.

Very interesting, balanced and well researched. The author is a grandchild of Haile Selassie, which allows him to provide some personal account and first hand experience while at the same time keeping a balanced a critical view. At the same time, it is very easy to read. . In sum, I would like to thank the author for this book.

Overall, a really good book. The author's inside view adds anecdotal evidence based on personal conversations with Haile Selassie, those of his inner circle and those who had come into direct contact with him, that help to paint a thoroughly convincing picture of the mystery that the late emperor often was to those who have studied him.

The author was kind to Heile Salassie, while also showing how the emperor was reluctant to let go of some power to save his nation. Because the author was of a highly place family heritage, and he had personal experiences in the Emperor's court, he was perhaps the best one to write this. I live in Ethiopia for several years, and my wife and I were there during the 1974 Marxist coup.

Do read this insider yet objective account of the man who kept Ethiopia independent, barring a brief interlude of particularly brutal Italian rule (1935-1941).It is particularly illuminating (and understated) about the perfidious machinations of France and especially Britain. Having kicked out the Italians, the latter tried to gain control of Ethiopia at the end of World War Two, and was shamed into recognising Ethiopian sovereignty by Selassie’s adroit exposure of what was going on.The author is a bilateral descendant of Selassie, whom he knew well enough, enabling him to paint a convincing portrait of the dignified, intelligent but fiercely egotistical ruler - regent then emperor of Ethiopia during 1916-74- who insisted on referring to himself as ‘We’. Indeed, Asserate is very critical of Selassie’s increasingly despotic rule, especially after he snuffed out a potential coup in 1960.After liberation in 1941 from Italian control, Selassie’s supposed reforms did away with the independent power of the nobility, replacing it with a centralised, authoritarian state where the Emperor took all of the important decisions and many minor ones. But not much else changed, except for the rise of a new and small elite of bureaucrats. According to the author, by 1960 the ‘lives of most people in the Ethiopian countryside had not improved notably since ... 1941.’ Nearly one third of the viable land was owned by the Imperial family, with most of the rest owned by the nobility and the church.Selassie turned more and more to foreign affairs and long tours abroad. He built good diplomatic ties with the United States, both to gain preferential aid and loans and to offset the influence of Britain, which he admired but did not trust. Haile Selassie was also a major force in helping to found the Organisation of African Unity.The descriptions of various ceremonies are far too long for me, and the book would benefit from some good maps. But it is otherwise an excellent introduction to the charismatic but narrow Negus who left his country proud but severely impoverished, at the mercy of the big drought of 1973-74. It is sad and telling that when Selassie was toppled from power in 1974 by the equally despotic but far crueller Derge, barely a shot was fired and Selassie was led meekly to incarceration and death by smothering.

While the subtitle `The Triumph and Tragedy of Emperor Haile Selassie 1 of Ethiopia` encapsulates the essence of his rise and fall, another way of putting it might well have been how the Emperor lost his clothes! But the author is far too balanced and mature in his approach and judgment to reduce the subject of his excellent and fascinating biography to such a cynical sound-bite.Asfa-Wossen Asserate is the grandson of Haile Selassie`s cousin Ras Kassa, who was the Emperor`s most trusted comrade-in-arms and closest advisor. They had grown up as blood-brothers, having together taken the sacrament of the Holy Communion, which in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church only happens on very special occasions. Ras Kassa`s son, Ras Asserate Kassa, in his turn also served the Emperor in a similar role and was the last President of the Imperial Crown Council. So it was that the author Asfa-Wossen Asserate himself spent his childhood and early youth as a prince of the extended royal family – of the House of David - and thus had a ringside view of and social contact with the Emperor.Lest this might suggest otherwise, the book is a far cry from any bias or prejudice towards his elder relation, for what we are presented with here is an extraordinarily objective portrayal of the Emperor as a somewhat aloof and tragic figure with, as Asserate sums up in the Epilogue, a mixture of `strengths and weaknesses` who had basically outlived his mission and message.How it started and blossomed into the long years of his rein - the highlights of his achievements, his ambitious programmes of development to propel backward Ethiopia into the modern age, his foreign travels, his international fame as a fighter against the Italian invasion and his exile during the dark days of that period, his triumphant return, his championship of black African freedom movements – to degenerate into his failure to reform the feudal system of land ownership and agriculture, and his disinclination or inability to come to terms with the advent of the era of democracy and the legitimate aspirations of his educated younger subjects, leading to his eventual downfall – all this is brilliantly captured in the book, complete with factual details, unique archival photographs, copious endnotes, glossaries of Ethiopian imperial titles and names, a genealogical table, a map of the Ethiopian Empire and its Provinces circa 1960, a comprehensive bibliography and a serviceable index!The book was originally written in German and this English translation is by Peter Lewis. It is an easy read, notwithstanding a few minor errors of text in the translation. The author who has lived in Germany for over 40 years and is a distinguished academic there is also a fluent English speaker as well; this came across impressively during his recent appearance on BBC Radio 4`s `Midweek` programme. In short, then, this book cannot be recommended too highly. It is undoubtedly a most authentic and authoritative account of an African icon of the 20th century and will form a valuable resource for historians and researchers.

A great read.I'm not a historian or any kind of expert on Ethiopia so I couldn't attest for its validity as a historical book, but neither could I deny it. The recommendation by Monte-Fiore and mature writing style speak in favour of its objectivity though.The perception of the figure of Haile Selassie has been largely distorted by communism propaganda (DERG regime or Kapuscinski's book that, although masterfully written, was written as an assignment by USSR and is not reliable at all) and this book tries to show this unusual figure in wider context.My family's history was directly affected by Haile Selassie's actions and utterly deny the portrait of him as a self-contained, ruthless person.

The biography written by Asfa Wossen Asserate, has rescued the reputation of Emperor Hailé Selassie from the malicious humour of Evelyn Waugh,s "Black Misschief" and the sensational but largely fictitious account of his fall in "The Emperor written byf Rudyard KapuczinskiThe present biography impresses because it shows the Emperor "warts and all" but it never descents to the level of caricature.It is rightly respectful(but not in an obsequious manner) of the Emperor's many achievements from the thirties until the mid fifties but also critical of his increasing autocratic personality during the last fifteen years of his reign.I admire the author's impartial rendering of the often craven attitude of the Etihopian nobility in thrall to the Emperor and more concerned by palace intrigues that the abysmal misery of the Ethiopian people in the sixties and seventies.The book is particularly interesting on the "coup' of 1960:in my opinion it is the first attempt to describe objectively the desperation of the conspirators as they realized that their benefactor,the Emperor,had feet of clay and more concerned by maintaining his style of autocratic government rather than caring about his people.wellbeing of his people;

This was a fantastic book written by a member of the family,who does try to keep a perspective on the subject, I have been fascinated by this man for years.the name alone conjours up the meaning of majesty,H I M EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE OF ETHIOPIA. He is one of the most remarkable men of the 20th century. In 1974 I was 9years old I do believe I remember the emperor being put in a small Volkswagen,the pictures where in black and white, what a man,what a story.