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Book Categories: Royalty, Tewodros II, Queen of Sheba, Aksum, History, Rasselas, Haile Selassie, Revolution, Fiction, Children's Books, Africa

Monarchy & Royalty

Jimma Abba Jifar: An Oromo Monarchy Ethiopia 1830-1932 by Herbert S. Lewis. A study of the history and organization of Jimma under Abba Jifar II (1878-1932).

The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 1844-1913 by Harold G. Marcus.

Books About Haile Selassie
Books About the Ethiopian Revolution

The Barefoot Emperor: An Ethiopian Tragedy by Philip Marsden. Tells the story of Emperor Tewodros II, who rose from camel-raider to king, but clashed with British forces and committed suicide in 1868.

Prelude to Magdala: Emperor Theodore of Ethiopia and British Diplomacy by Percy Arnold. A study of the dispute between the British government and Tewodros (or Theodore) II, which led to the emperor's suicide.

The Prince and the Plunder by Andrew Heavens. In 1868, British troops took six-year-old Prince Alamayuto of Ethiopia to England. He was never allowed to go home.

The Abyssinian Difficulty: The Emperor Theodorus and the Magdala Campaign, 1867-68 by Sir Darrell Bates. Published in 1979.

Books About Queen Victoria

The Queen of Sheba

The Queen of Sheba & Her Only Son Menyelek a/k/a The Kebra Nagast by E. A. Wallis Budge. A 20th century translation of the Kebra Nagast, an early Ethiopian historical epic. Although there is dispute about the location of the Biblical land of Sheba, its famous queen, called Makeda or Bilqis, is traditionally believed to have been Abyssinian (Ethiopian).

A Modern Translation of the Kebra Negast edited by Miguel F. Brooks.

The Queen of Sheba: Legend, Literature and Lore by Deborah M. Coulter-Harris. Examines references to the Queen of Sheba in an array of texts, and considers whether she was the pharaoh Hatshepsut.

Sheba: Through the Desert in Search of the Legendary Queen by Nicholas Clapp. The author, a filmmaker, used satellite imagery to retrace the route the Queen of Sheba took on her journey to meet King Solomon.

Solomon: Falcon of Sheba: The Tombs of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba Discovered by Ralph Ellis. The author traces the tomb of the legendary Queen of Sheba to a location in the Near East.

Ten Thousand Scorpions: The Search for the Queen of Sheba's Gold by Larry Frolick. The desert tribes of Yemen call her Bilqis. In Ethiopia, she is revered as Makeda. And in Anatolian Turkey, she is known as Saba Sultana. Who was the mysterious Queen of Sheba?

In Search of King Solomon's Mines by Tahir Shah. The author traces the location of the Biblical king's mines to Ethiopia, whose imperial family claims descent from Menelik, son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Quest for Sheba: In the Footsteps of the Arabian Queen by Norman Stone Pearn and Vincent Barlow. The author, a travel writer, believed the Queen of Sheba ruled in southwestern Arabia.

Fiction

Wisdom's Daughter: A Novel of Solomon and Sheba by India Edghill. Tells the tale of Bilqis, queen of Sheba, who rules the spice lands; Solomon, wise king of Israel and Judea; and Solomon's wives, concubines, and daughter Baalit.

The Last Queen of Sheba: A Novel by Jill Hudson. Against all odds Makeda, daughter of an obscure chieftain, is chosen as Queen of Sheba. Recognizing her own inexperience, she visits Solomon, King of Israel, to find out how he governs.

The Legend of Sheba: Rise of a Queen by Tosca Lee. In the tenth century BC, the new Queen of Sheba undertakes the journey of a lifetime in a daring bid to test and win Solomon, the brash new king of Israel.

Queen of Sheba by Roberta Kells Dorr. Bilqis, the pagan queen of Sheba, travels to Israel to meet King Solomon and divert a war. To her surprise, she finds both love and a new faith. (Christian fiction)

Books About King Solomon
Videos About Solomon & Other Biblical Rulers

Kingdom of Aksum

Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity by Stuart Munro-Hay. In the 3rd century AD, a Persian commentator described the Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum as one of the most powerful civilizations in the world.

Archaeology at Aksum, Ethiopia, 1993-7 edited by David W. Phillipson.

Ethiopian History

A History of Ethiopia: Updated Edition by Harold G. Marcus. This concise history surveys the evolution of the oldest African nation, from prehistory to modern times.

Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia by Paul B. Henze. Traces the country's expansion southward during medieval times, its resistance to Muslim invasion, and its defense of its independence during the European scramble for Africa.

The Ethiopians: A History by Richard Pankhurst. Drawing on research in archeology, anthropology, linguistics, and recent historiography, the book charts the development of Ethiopian peoples, placing emphasis on the African origins of Ethiopian civilization.

Rasselas

The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia by Samuel Johnson. This 1759 fictional work presents the story of the journey of Rasselas and his companions in search of "the choice of life."

A Voyage to Abyssinia by Father Jerome Lobo, translated by Samuel Johnson. Account written by a Portuguese missionary.

The Mountains of Rasselas: An Ethiopian Adventure by Thomas Pakenham. Chronicles a quest into the mountains of Ethiopia to discover the truth about the royal princes of Abyssinia, the legend of Prester John, and the lost civilization of Gondar.

Books About African Royalty
Books About Nubia

Fiction

The Lion of Judah by Janice L. Dennie. Prince Johannes of Ethiopia is torn apart by civil war in his country. He comes to the United States and meets the woman of his dreams. (Romance novel.)