Understanding Somalia and Somaliland : Culture, History and Society

This book highlights the salient aspects of the history and culture of the Somali people, distilling for the non-specialist in a readily accessible form Ioan Lewis’s vast erudition on all things Somali. He also addresses developments in the Somali political region since the collapse of the Republic in 1991. Anita Adam contributes chapters on the urban culture of Benadiri Somalis that illustrate the complexity of what constitutes ‘Somaliness’. This book provides the essential historical and political background to a little-understood culture and people whose predicament continues to hold the world’s attention.