The book centers on the untold history of the Emperor Menelik's expansionary wars of conquests of the mid-nineteenth century and an early twentieth century and incorporation of various southern Ethiopian peoples which eventually resulted in the formation of the modern Ethiopian state. It also discusses the untold history of the pre-conquest socio-cultural and historical status of the Southern Ethiopian peoples and post-conquest legacies. Moreover, the book uniquely highlights the dominant legacy of the Shewa-Amhara ruling class in Ethiopian state, which R. H. K. Darkwah (1975) called "the Shewanization of the empire." To date there is no comprehensive work in Ethiopian history which investigated in depth these crucial themes simultaneously - wars of conquests, resistances, & the power dynamics at the center - on one hand, and the pre-conquest status of the southern Ethiopian peoples and the enduring post-conquest legacies on the other hand. Original topics enriched with extensive archival research and authoritative references are presented in five parts, 17 chapters and 39 sub-chapters. This book is uniquely positioned to provide a fresh perspective to an Ethiopian historiography.