# Becoming Somaliland (2008) by Mark Bradbury: how Somaliland built a state after 1991

> Mark Bradbury's Becoming Somaliland (2008): what it covers from Somali history to Somaliland's peace conferences, elections and recognition, and how reviewers read it.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/books/becoming-somaliland-bradbury/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## The book

**Becoming Somaliland** is a book by **Mark Bradbury**, a researcher who worked on Somali affairs for many years. It was published in 2008 by James Currey (Oxford) with Progressio ([London](/en/diaspora/london/)) in the African Issues series, with a US edition from Indiana University Press ([Boydell and Brewer](https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781847013101); [Bulletin of SOAS review record](https://core-cms.cambridgecore.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/mark-bradbury-becoming-somaliland-xvi-271-pp-london-progressiojames-currey-2008-1295-isbn-978-1-84701-310-1/39E996B448C7B1A9EA824E4220D9837E)).

## What it covers

The book asks why Somaliland, unlike the rest of Somalia, did not slide into lasting state collapse after 1991, and why it still lacks international recognition ([Boydell and Brewer](https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781847013101)). Its chapters move from the Somali people and culture and the rise and fall of the Somali state, to the political foundations of Somaliland, the new Somaliland, state building and a long transition, and end with a chapter on the future and appendices on lineages and clan families ([Readings](https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781847013101/becoming-somaliland--mark-bradbury--2008--9781847013101)). Reviewers describe the first two chapters as background and the remaining eight as a detailed account of events in Somaliland ([LUCAS, University of Leeds](https://lucas.leeds.ac.uk/article/somalia-somaliland/)).

The publisher highlights Somaliland's relatively free elections of the 2000s and how they challenge the usual image of war and disaster in the region ([Boydell and Brewer](https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781847013101)). Somaliland itself is covered on [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## How it was received

- It was reviewed in the Journal of Modern African Studies by Markus Hoehne ([Cambridge](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/becoming-somaliland-by-mark-bradbury-oxford-james-currey-2008-pp-244-1295-pb/B3E92B38EF04EFA15C32722E39877D81)) and in the Bulletin of SOAS ([Cambridge](https://core-cms.cambridgecore.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/mark-bradbury-becoming-somaliland-xvi-271-pp-london-progressiojames-currey-2008-1295-isbn-978-1-84701-310-1/39E996B448C7B1A9EA824E4220D9837E)).
- Lionel Cliffe, at the University of Leeds, wrote that Bradbury does not romanticise Somaliland or assume its stability will last on its own ([LUCAS](https://lucas.leeds.ac.uk/article/somalia-somaliland/)).
- Some reviewers describe the author as sympathetic to Somaliland's case for independence; a reader review in Somaliland Current disputed parts of the book ([Somaliland Current](https://www.somalilandcurrent.com/book-review-becoming-somaliland)). A reader review on Somaliaonline noted that the fieldwork seemed to end around 2006 ([Somaliaonline](https://www.somaliaonline.com/community/topic/11301-book-review-becoming-somaliland)).

## Where to read it

- Lending copy: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/becomingsomalila0000brad)
- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Becoming+Somaliland+Bradbury)

## Related pages

- [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)
- [Rebuilding, 1991 to 1999](/en/history/rebuilding-1991-1999/)

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