The mask of anarchy : the destruction of Liberia and the religious dimension of an African civil war

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Title:

Author:

Ellis, Stephen, 1953-2015.

ISBN:

9781850654018

9781850654179

Personal Author:

Ellis, Stephen, 1953-2015.

Publication Information:

London : Hurst & Co., 1999.

Physical Description:

xix, 350 p., [6] p. of plates : ill., maps ; 22 cm.

Contents:

Introduction: African wars -- Pt. I. A Chronicle. 1. The First of the Warlords. 2. Lean and Hungry Years. 3. The Mechanics of War. 4. Business and Diplomacy -- Pt. II. An Inquiry. 5. A Nation Long Forlorn. 6. Men and Devils. 7. False Prophets -- Annex A. Casualties of the Liberian war, 1989-97 -- Annex B. List of principal characters.

Abstract:

"The Liberian civil war generated some of the most frightening news images of the recent past: camera crews and photographers recorded striking pictures of teenage boys, high on drugs, firing machine guns while dressed in masks or women's clothes. Men of the infamous "Butt Naked Brigade" fought street battles without the benefit of clothing. There were so many cases of gunmen eating their victims' hearts and other body parts that the Catholic Church had to issue a formal denunciation of the practice."--BOOK JACKET. "The Mask of Anarchy tells the story of the war, and explains why it unfolded in such dramatic fashion. The keys to understanding the fighters' behavior are to be found among the religious and cultural repertoires that once formed the core of rural Liberian life but which became deformed and abused in over a century of foreign settlement."--BOOK JACKET.

Corporate Subject:

Poro (Society)

Sande Society.

Geographic Term:

Liberia -- History -- Civil War, 1989- -- Causes.

Liberia -- History -- Civil War, 1989- -- Religious aspects.

Liberia -- Religion.

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168015686674	966.6203 E47M 1999	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Liberia was in the headlines in 1990 when thousands of teenage fighters, including young men wearing women's clothing and bizarre objects of decoration, laid seige to the capital, Monrovia. In response to the crisis, a West African peacekeeping force, ECONMOG, was sent to stabilize the country and prevent the main warlord, Charles Taylor, from coming to power. Seven years later, however, Taylor was elected President. The country had a fragile peace but the war had spread to its neighbour Sierra Leone.