The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Walatta Petros: A Seventeenth-Century African Biography of an Ethiopian Woman Tapa dura - 2015

"Rarely have I read a text that offered as many possibilities as this story of the seventeenth-century Ethiopian saint Walatta Petros, a multidimensional woman worthy of study. Belcher and Kleiner have given a new generation of readers access to this full biography of a formidable resister to European colonization, as well as keen insight into her communities and relationships with women."--Salamishah Tillet, University of Pennsylvania

"The revolutionary Ethiopian saint Walatta Petros finally has the translation into English that she deserves. Faithful, well-researched, and accessible, this volume brings to light a fascinating example of women's leadership in the early modern world."--Getatchew Haile, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University

"Wendy Belcher and Michael Kleiner's annotated English translation of the biography of Walatta Petros combines rigorous textual scholarship with a fresh, vivid, and intimate portrait of the saint in her context. This stimulating volume will challenge general readers' view of Africa as 'the land of orality.'"--Alessandro Bausi, University of Hamburg

"This beautifully translated biography tells the fascinating story of an influential seventeenth-century Ethiopian leader. Based on meticulous scholarship using the oldest manuscripts, and including an accessible introduction, color illustrations, and helpful footnotes, this is a significant contribution to Ethiopian and women's studies as well as religious history."--Alice Ogden Bellis, Howard University School of Divinity

"This book provides an important contribution to the history of elite African women and to the scholarship on Ethiopia. The text reads fluently, the critical apparatus is very impressive, and the introduction does everything we could ask an introduction to do."--John K. Thornton, Boston University

"This eminently readable translation of a neglected and important work is a major contribution to scholarship, beautifully framed by the introduction and the book's other features. Taken together, they provide almost a reference work on premodern Ethiopia, full of rich byways through which we are led with erudition and clarity."--Samantha Kelly, Rutgers University