Books about Somalis, 1991 to 2005: the fall of the state and new research

What these books are

After the collapse of the central government in January 1991, writing about Somalis turned to the causes of the war, the famine and the UN intervention of 1992 to 1995 (UN intervention, 1992 to 1995), and to how people lived without a state.

• Questioning older accounts. Ali Jimale Ahmed's The Invention of Somalia (1995) and Catherine Besteman's Unraveling Somalia (1999) brought in the history of southern farming and minority communities. Besteman and Lee Cassanelli edited The Struggle for Land in Southern Somalia (1996).
• Former officials' accounts. Jama Mohamed Ghalib (1995) and Mohamed Osman Omar (1992) wrote on the end of the Republic.
• Faith and culture. I. M. Lewis's Saints and Somalis (1998), Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi's Culture and Customs of Somalia (2001) and Lidwien Kapteijns's study of women's oral literature (1999).
• Life without a central state. Peter Little (2003) on trade and livestock, Ken Menkhaus (2004) on governance, and Cindy Horst and others on refugees.
• Reporting. Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down (1999) on the battle of 3 and 4 October 1993 in Mogadishu (Wikipedia).

These authors disagree about the weight of clan, the state, class and outside powers in explaining the war; see A Modern History of the Somali for the main debate.

The books, oldest first

Tarikh harakat al-jihad al-Islami al-Sumali didda al-isti'mar (1992)

Ali Mahmud Ali Mayuf · Arabic

History of Somali Islamic resistance to colonial rule.

Where to read: Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

Divine Madness: Mohammed Abdulle Hassan (1856-1920) (1993)

Abdi Sheik-Abdi · English

Biography of the Sayyid and the Dervish movement.

Where to read: Find in a library (WorldCat)

An Anthology of Somali Poetry (1993)

B. W. Andrzejewski with Sheila Andrzejewski · English

Translations of Somali poems from the 19th century to the 1980s.

Where to read: Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

The Invention of Somalia (1995)

Ahmed Ali Jimale (ed.) · English

Essays questioning older accounts of Somali history, including the role of southern and minority communities.

Where to read: Full page on this book · HathiTrust · Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

Colloquial Somali (1995)

Martin Orwin · English

Course book for learning Somali.

Where to read: Read free on Internet Archive · Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

The Struggle for Land in Southern Somalia: The War Behind the War (1996)

Catherine Besteman & Lee V. Cassanelli (eds.) · English

Farming land in the Shabelle and Juba valleys and how it changed hands.

Where to read: Full page on this book · Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

Daybreak is Near: Literature, Clans, and the Nation-State in Somalia (1996)

Ali Jimale Ahmed · English

Somali literature and politics.

Where to read: Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

Mending Rips in the Sky: Options for Somali Communities in the 21st Century (1997)

Hussein M. Adam (ed.) · English

Papers from the Somali Studies International Association.

Where to read: Read free on Internet Archive · HathiTrust · Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

Saints and Somalis: Popular Islam in a Clan-based Society (1998)

Ioan M. Lewis · English

Sufi saints, the cult of saints and Islam in everyday Somali life.

Where to read: Full page on this book · Read free on Internet Archive · Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

Unraveling Somalia: Race, Violence, and the Legacy of Slavery (1999)

Catherine Besteman · English

The Gosha and Jareer communities of the Juba valley.

Where to read: Full page on this book · Read free on Internet Archive · Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War (1999)

Mark Bowden · English

The 3-4 October 1993 battle in Mogadishu.

Where to read: Full page on this book · Read free on Internet Archive · HathiTrust · Open Library · Wikipedia · Find in a library (WorldCat)

Women's Voices in a Man's World: Women and the Pastoral Tradition in Northern Somali Orature, c. 1899-1980 (1999)

Lidwien Kapteijns · English

Women's songs and stories and their place in society.

Where to read: Full page on this book · Read free on Internet Archive · HathiTrust · Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

The Cold War Fallout: Boundary Politics and Conflict in the Horn of Africa (2000)

Abdisalam M. Issa-Salwe · English

Superpower rivalry and the Somali-Ethiopian conflict.

Where to read: Find in a library (WorldCat)

Culture and Customs of Somalia (2001)

Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi · English

Overview of religion, family, poetry, food and daily life.

Where to read: Full page on this book · Read free on Internet Archive · HathiTrust · Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

Me Against My Brother: At War in Somalia, Sudan, and Rwanda (2001)

Scott Peterson · English

A reporter's account of the early 1990s, including Mogadishu 1992 to 1993.

Where to read: Full page on this book · Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

Somali Sultanate: The Geledi City-State over 150 Years (2001)

Virginia Luling · English

History and life of the Geledi sultanate at Afgooye.

Where to read: Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

Imperialismo e resistenza in Corno d'Africa (2002)

Gerardo Nicolosi · Italian

The Sayyid's movement and Italian and British rule.

Where to read: Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

Somalia: Economy Without State (2003)

Peter D. Little · English

Livestock, cross-border trade and money transfer after 1991.

Where to read: Full page on this book · Read free on Internet Archive · Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

Historical Dictionary of Somalia (new edition) (2003)

Mohamed Haji Mukhtar · English

Reference work, Scarecrow Press African Historical Dictionaries.

Where to read: Read free on Internet Archive · Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

Somalia: State Collapse and the Threat of Terrorism (2004)

Ken Menkhaus · English

Adelphi Paper on governance without a state.

Where to read: Find in a library (WorldCat)

Putting the Cart Before the Horse: Contested Nationalism and the Crisis of the Nation-State in Somalia (2004)

Abdi M. Kusow (ed.) · English

Essays on nationalism and the state.

Where to read: Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

The Law of the Somalis: A Stable Foundation for Economic Development in the Horn of Africa (2005)

Michael van Notten · English

Somali customary law (xeer).

Where to read: Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

Jubba Land History (2005)

Aden Boqow · English

History of the Juba region.

Where to read: Open Library · Find in a library (WorldCat)

Related pages

• Books about Somalis, 1960 to 1990
• Books about Somalis, 1991 to 2005
• Books about Somalis since 2006
• Somali authors and their books
• Books about Somalis: every era