In 2018, Ethiopia and the world were gripped by "Abiymania," an intense wave of enthusiasm for the country's young and charismatic new prime minister. Seemingly emerging from obscurity, Abiy Ahmed, a Pentecostal Christian with a Muslim father and an Orthodox Christian mother, pledged to bring democracy and unify the fractured nation. His efforts in mediating a historic peace deal with neighbouring Eritrea earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. 

However, things turned sour in the following years when the terrible civil war erupted in Africa's second most populous nation. For his incisive reporting on the war, the author faced systematic targeting, physical assaults, and eventual deportation. His book delivers a searing account of the institutionalized corruption and brutal violence that plague Abiy Ahmed's so-called "new Ethiopia". 

However, Gardner’s approach is marked by meticulous listening, as he engages with everyone willing to share their perspective - from orphaned street children to world leaders – as well as journalistic rigour. 

The book is an excellent portrait of one of Africa’s most enigmatic and controversial leaders and a chronicle of the most tumultuous years in Ethiopia’s recent history. The Los Angeles Review of Books called this account by one of The Economist’s Africa correspondents “groundbreaking”.