Mask of Anarchy

The Destruction of Liberia and the Religious Dimension of an African Civil War

By: Stephen Ellis

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Paperback | 24 November 1999 | Edition Number 2

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370 Pages

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21.6 x 13.8 x 2.6

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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.
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.

Industry Reviews

'The first half of this outstanding study of Liberia's civil war (1989-97) reviews the conflict's political, economic, military and international features, drawing on a comprehensive array of sources. the second half is a fascinating and profound exploration of what Ellis sees as Liberian's deep spiritual anarchy, manifested during the war in extreme brutality, incidents of cannibalism, and the fighters' bizarre sartorial affections. these things tend to boggle Western minds, as did the overwhelming support among Liberian voters for the unprincipled warlord Charles Taylor in the country's 1997 presidential election. But Ellis' persuasive analysis of Liberian religious ideology and culture does more than make sense of these strange phenomena. It offers rare insight into the political, physical, and spiritual power can be linked and legitimized in the popular imagination-and how each can run amok in the absence of durable institutional checks and balances. A model of lucid writing, thorough research, and penetrating interpretation, this is one of the best books on Africa in recent years.' -Foreign Affairs, Washington, DC

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Acknowledgements
Acronyms
Introduction: African wars	p. 1
A Chronicle
The First of the Warlords	p. 31
Lean and Hungry Years	p. 75
The Mechanics of War	p. 110
Business and Diplomacy	p. 150
An Inquiry
A Nation Long Forlorn	p. 191
Men and Devils	p. 220
False Prophets	p. 281
Casualties of the Liberian war, 1989-97	p. 312
List of principal characters	p. 317
Bibliography	p. 321
Index	p. 339
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

Mask of Anarchy

The Destruction of Liberia and the Religious Dimension of an African Civil War

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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