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Emperor Haile Selassie was the last in the line of Ethiopia’s ancient
monarchy. During his long rule he was revered as an international
statesman and reformer, demonised as a dictator, and even
worshipped as a God incarnate by the Rastafarians of Jamaica.
He was without doubt a controversial figure, but achieved a status in the global arena previously unheard of for an African ruler.

Bridget Kendall discusses Haile Selassie’s life and legacy with Prince
Asfa-Wossen Asserate, political analyst and author of ‘King of Kings:
The Triumph and Tragedy of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia’,
who is also the great-nephew of Haile Selassie; Gerard Prunier,
Independent Consultant on Eastern and Central African affairs, and
former Director of the French Centre for Ethiopian Studies in Addis
-Ababa; and Laura Hammond, an anthropologist specialising in
Ethiopia at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of
London.

Image: Haile Selassie
Credit: Henry Guttmann/Getty Images