Reporting from Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Eritrea, the author examines the factors behind the famine that ravaged the region in the 1980s, exploring the ethnic, religious, and class conflicts that are crucial for understanding the region today. Offering a new foreword and afterword that show how the nations have developed since the famine and information on why this region will only grow more important to the United States, this blend of on-the-ground reporting and cogent analysis details a fascinating part of the world.