The mask of anarchy

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

Bibliographic Data

ID24202002
AuthorsStephen Ellis
Year1999
Pages350
Publication date1999-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueThe mask of anarchy (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherNew York University Press (PUBLISHER)
Open LibraryOL43479M
ISBN9780814722114
LanguageEN
Citations received248

"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.

1989 · Africa · Causes · Civil War · Civil War, 1989 · History · Liberia · Liberia Civil War · National Patriotic Front of Liberia · politics and government · Poro (Society) · Religion · Religious aspects · Sande Society · Social life and customs · War