This impressive novel, justifiably a modern classic in Ethiopia, was published in the Amharic language in 1983 but has only now been translated into English. The central character, Tsegaye, is a useful idiot (“wagging his tail for the big bosses”) in the military junta that ruled Ethiopia in the 1970s and 80s. The story is set in 1982, when the government launched the Red Star campaign, aimed at crushing the independence movement in Eritrea in the north of the country – or as one leader puts it to Tsegaye, “fighting to cement the survival of a proud and respected socialist Ethiopia”.

Tsegaye works as a film-maker in the “political initiatives office”, or propaganda department, so his main action in the conflict is filming in the Eritrean city of Asmara to “incite the public, make them angry … create in their psyche a state of action, not peace”. But he gets bogged down in worrying about the quality of his cameras and technical aspects of his videos, instead of getting on with the job.

In a book not short on action – one chapter is titled Five Murders, another Mountain of Blood – the focus in the first half is on the internal wranglings of the junta. Girma’s cynicism comes across throughout. “Some people associate socialism with speeches, with lots of discussions but nothing to show for it,” Tsegaye complains, as the government diverts itself from the campaign with revolutionary songs, resolutions and plans for memorial statues.

But twists come – Tsegaye falls in love, first with Asmara, and then with a young woman, Fiammetta, which may cause problems with his fiancee back home. Then he finally gets in on the action, as part of the government’s efforts to recapture a mountain stronghold from the rebels. Here the action and horror ramps up, and the cool tone becomes moving and shocking.

Oromay was banned in Ethiopia within days of publication, and Girma – an acclaimed writer who had written a number of other novels – disappeared six months later, in all likelihood killed by the regime he criticised. The title of the book, according to one of the characters, means “Done, finished, the end, it’s over”.