Piracy, Islamic fundamentalism, famine and brutal civil war. This is the image of Somalia we see in the media on an almost daily basis. Notorious as a ?failed? state, Somalia has become a byword for disorder and disaster. In the first comprehensive account of modern Somalia, BBC journalist and Somalia expert Mary Harper presents a thorough, detailed analysis of how Somalia has gone ?wrong?. She carefully unpicks the homegrown and imported elements that have led to the collapse of the state – the legacy of dictatorship, how bitter civil unrest exploded into full-scale violence and the damage that was done by clumsy, arrogant foreign intervention. She also gives fascinating examples of the unreported ways in which parts of Somalia have, in fact, not failed at all, demonstrating the versatility of the Somali people and the complex nature of how societies can and do function without government. This is the book to get behind the news stories, to understand the circumstances that have given rise to Al-Shabaab, pirate-infested waters and children carrying AK-47s.