Rural communities in both countries have a tradition of sorcery and spiritualism based around the idea of a community devil, a masked figure who comes out at night inducting adolescents into society's ancient rules. And there are other 'devils' that he is in search of. Both nations are on a developmental cusp and Tim explores whether national and international attempts to chase away the devil of war can succeed. Now he ventures deep into areas not visited by outsiders for years, just as the terrible deadweight of conflict is being lifted.
As a journalist in Africa between 20 Tim came to know both countries well although reporting was restricted mostly to the capital cities. His journey follows the route trekked by Graham Greene in 1935 and immortalised in his travel classic Journey Without Maps. Chasing the Devil tells the story of Tim Butcher's audacious expedition from Freetown at the mouth of the Sierra Leone river overland through forest-covered mountains and malarial plains to the coast of Liberia. Very good narration.For decades Sierra Leone and Liberia have been too dangerous for the outsider to travel through, bedevilled by a uniquely brutal form of violence from which have sprung many of Africa's cruellest contemporary icons - child soldiers, prisoner mutilation, blood diamonds.
A strong interest in travel narrative, or a background in West African history, would come in handy as well. Barbara Greene's book is harder to get a hold of, but I'd recommend (at least) reading Graham's book before tackling this one. Thus, the author manages to work in the Greenes' experience, as well as his own, filtered by the stories and visual evidence of warfare. swashbuckling, in that Liberia's chaos, while initially directed at the Americo-Liberian elite, quickly became a violent tale of inter-tribal conflict. The second half of the book, through Liberia with a brief cut through Guinea (as the Greenes had done) proved more. Sierra Leone proved a bit tricky to interpret, however, as the Greenes traveled via a railway that hasn't existed for over a generation, leaving Butcher to give impressions as best he could. At first, I felt that the story seemed a bit padded, as the actual trip didn't begin until he and his companions left Freetown almost a quarter of the way through the book. Graham Greene, along with his cousin Barbara and a host of bearers, traveled through Sierra Leone and Liberia in the mid-thirties seventy five years later, Tim Butcher followed their route (as closely as he could) to see what traces of their journey remain.
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