In 1935, Fascist Italy invaded Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), one of just two independent states in Africa at the time. Italy first invaded Ethiopia in 1895 and was driven out by the army of Emperor Menelik II. In 1935, the defensive effort would be led by Emperor Haile Selassie I. Benito Mussolini (the Italian “Duce”) claimed victory in 1936, but the struggle of Selassie and his people against impossible odds won worldwide admiration. This work supplements a concise narrative history of the conflict with more than 600 captioned photos, including detailed coverage of both armies.
