Table of Contents

The War as Random, Millenarian Violence - The War as Criminal, Resource-Driven Violence - The War as Disoriented Youth Violence - The War as a By-Product of State Collapse - The 1992 and 1997 Military Coups - Internal Players: the RUF Internal Players: the SLA - Internal Players: the Civl Defence Forces (CDF) - Foreign Intervention

About the Author

Lansana Gberie is a research associate of the Wilfried Laurier Centre for Miltary, Strategic and Disarmament Studies, and a consultant for Partnership Africa Canada, an Ottawa-based lobby group. He covered the Sierra Leonean civil war as a journalist for the Inter Press Service and newspapers from 1991-6, and was among the first to meet and interview Foday Sankoh, former leader of the RUF, Gberie is one of the authors of The Heart of the Matter: Sierra Leone, Diamonds and Human Security (Ottawa, 2000).

Reviews

'Gberie, a journalist and longtime observer of Sierra Leone's politics, has written an even handed and perceptive account of the country's tragic civil war during the 1990s. Much of his story focuses on the revel leader Foday Sankoh, a small-time political entrepreneur who emerged from radical student politics, went through military training in Muammar al-Qaddafi's Libya, and went on to lead the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in one of the most vicious and pointless wars of the twentieth century ... Notwithstanding his evident lack of organizational abiliites, Sankoh held tenuous sway over the RUF thanks to a combination of personal charisma and a ruthlessness that led him to kill off potential rivals. Gberie's analysis is consistently readable, and he does a fine job of disentangling the complexities of the civil war, the international peacekeeping efforts, and the reemergence of reasonably stable constitiutional rule under President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in the early years of the twenty-first century.' -- Foreign Affairs 'Provides important insider information concerning Sierra Leone's recent war... offers insights into the inner workings of a failing state and the insurgency... fits well with Hurst's reputation for publishing definitive accounts of "out of the way places" that are more important than armchair strategists would credit... it will appeal to those interested in more general aspects of contemporary warfare... it also builds on Gberie's established reputation as an insightful and courageous journalist. Though he soft-pedals his own positive role in Sierra Leone's recent history, one should mention his contribution to the campaign against "blood diamonds".' -- Professor Will Reno, Northwestern University