Includes bibliographical references (p. [360]-363) and index

Part 1. The land of the freed: Foundations of a settlement -- The spirit of Liberia -- Confronting the old order. Part 2. From dictatorship to anarchy: Sergeant-in-charge: Samuel Doe's presidency -- Doe's decline, Taylor's travels -- Charles Taylor's war -- The pantomime of peace -- Part 3. Power in greater Liberia -- Greater Liberia: prospering and assimilating -- Sierra Leone: Liberia's sister revolution -- Election victory and the Taylor presidency -- Part 4. Fallout from a revolution: A government embattled -- Relations with the United States -- Liberian legacy -- Justice à la carte

"Campaigner, insurgent, fugitive, rebel commander, commodity kingpin, elected president, exile and finally prisoner, Charles Taylor sought to lead his country to change but instead ignited a conflict which destroyed Liberia in over a decade of violence, greed and personal ambition. Taylor's takeover threw much of the neigbouring region into turmoil, until he was finally brought to face justice in The Hague for his role in Sierra Leone's civil war. In this ... book, Colin Waugh draws on a variety of sources, testimonies and original interviews - including with Taylor himself - to recount the story of what really happened during these turbulent years. In doing so, he examines both the life of Charles Taylor, as well as the often self-interested efforts of the international community to first save Liberia from disaster, then, having failed to do so, to bring to justice the man it deems most to blame for its disintegration."--Publisher's website

"Campaigner, insurgent, fugitive, rebel commander, commodity kingpin, elected president, exile and finally prisoner, Charles Taylor sought to lead his country to change but instead ignited a conflict which destroyed Liberia in over a decade of violence, greed and personal ambition. Taylor's takeover threw much of the neigbouring region into turmoil, until he was finally brought to face justice in The Hague for his role in Sierra Leone's civil war. In this ... book, Colin Waugh draws on a variety of sources, testimonies and original interviews - including with Taylor himself - to recount the story of what really happened during these turbulent years. In doing so, he examines both the life of Charles Taylor, as well as the often self-interested efforts of the international community to first save Liberia from disaster, then, having failed to do so, to bring to justice the man it deems most to blame for its disintegration."--Publisher's website