LibGuides: War Literature & Perspectives: Sierra Leone Civil War

About The War

The Sierra Leonean Civil War took place from 1991 to 2002 when a revolutionary group led by Foday Sankoh attempted to overthrow the Sierra Leonean government and president. The revolutionaries, named the Revolutionary United Front, were supported by Liberian rebel leader Charles Taylor. It was a long and bloody conflict that utilized child soldiers and slave labor. Over 20,000 people were killed and around 2.5 million people were displaced.

The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991-2002) | BlackPast
Learn more about the war from this brief article.

Radiance of Tomorrow by Ishmael Beah
Call Number: PS 3602 .E2417 R33 2014
ISBN: 9780374246020
Publication Date: 2014-01-07
Benjamin and Bockarie, two longtime friends, return to their hometown, Imperi, after the civil war. The village is in ruins, the ground covered in bones. As more villagers begin to come back, Benjamin and Bockarie try to forge a new community by taking up their former posts as teachers, but they're beset by obstacles: a scarcity of food; a rash of murders, thievery, rape, and retaliation; and the depredations of a foreign mining company intent on sullying the town's water supply and blocking its paths with electric wires. As Benjamin and Bockarie search for a way to restore order, they're forced to reckon with the uncertainty of their past and future alike.
* This book is available in the Hoffman Family Library at Goodwin University
Little Family by Ishmael Beah
ISBN: 9780735211773
Publication Date: 2020-04-28
Hidden away from a harsh outside world, five young people have improvised a home in an abandoned airplane, a relic of their country's tumultuous past. Elimane, the bookworm, is as street-smart as he is wise. Clever Khoudiemata maneuvers to keep the younger kids-athletic, pragmatic Ndevui, thoughtful Kpindi, and especially their newest member, Namsa-safe and fed. When Elimane makes himself of service to the shadowy William Handkerchief, it seems as if the little family may be able to keep the world at bay and their household intact. But when Khoudi comes under the spell of the "beautiful people"-the fortunate sons and daughters of the elite-the desire to resume an interrupted coming of age and follow her own destiny proves impossible to resist.
* This book is available at West Hartford Public Library (linked below)

West Hartford Public Library

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
Call Number: DT 516.828.B43 A3 2007
ISBN: 0374105235
Publication Date: 2007-02-13
My new friends have begun to suspect I haven't told them the full story of my life. "Why did you leave Sierra Leone?" "Because there is a war." "You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?" "Yes, all the time." "Cool." I smile a little. "You should tell us about it sometime." "Yes, sometime." This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.
* This book is available in the Hoffman Family Library at Goodwin University
The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara; Susan Elizabeth McClelland (As told to)
ISBN: 9781554511587
Publication Date: 2008-09-30
As a child in a small rural village in Sierra Leone, Mariatu Kamara lived peacefully surrounded by family and friends. Rumors of rebel attacks were no more than a distant worry. But when 12-year-old Mariatu set out for a neighboring village, she never arrived. Heavily armed rebel soldiers, many no older than children themselves, attacked and tortured Mariatu. During this brutal act of senseless violence they cut off both her hands. Stumbling through the countryside, Mariatu miraculously survived. The sweet taste of a mango, her first food after the attack, reaffirmed her desire to live, but the challenge of clutching the fruit in her bloodied arms reinforced the grim new reality that stood before her. With no parents or living adult to support her and living in a refugee camp, she turned to begging in the streets of Freetown.
* This book is available at West Hartford Public Library (linked below)
The Devil That Danced on the Water by Aminatta Forna
ISBN: 9780802140487
Publication Date: 2003-12-18
Aminatta's search for the truth that shaped both her childhood and the nation's destiny began among the country's elite and took her into the heart of rebel territory. Determined to break the silence surrounding her father's fate, she ultimately uncovered a conspiracy that penetrated the highest reaches of government and forced the nation's politicians and judiciary to confront their guilt. "The Devil that Danced on the Water" is a book of pain and anger and sorrow, written with tremendous dignity and beautiful precision: a remarkable, and important, story of Africa.
* This book is available at West Hartford Public Library (linked below)

West Hartford Public Library