Somalia

Few countries in Africa have had such powerful links with both the Russia and the United States - each for several years at a stretch - as Somalia.

From a quiet Indian Ocean backwater that had once been an Italian colony, it remained aloof from the kind of power struggles that beset countries like Ghana, the Congo, Guinea, Algeria and others in the 1970s.

Overnight, that all changed in 1969 when the army, led by Major General Siad Barre, grabbed power.

Since then, Somalia has endured gruesome hostilities that continue to this day.

This book examines the history of the war-torn African state.