HELP LIBERIA FOUNDATION

A Book about the Liberian Civil Wars Published in Poland

Posted by Help Liberia Foundation on September 24, 2005

A well-written book about the civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, with the title “Wojny w Liberii i Sierra Leone (1989-2002)” which, when translated into English means “Wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone(1989-2002),” has been published in Poland.

The book, authored by Dr. Krzysztof Trzcinski, an assistant professor of the Department of Developing Countries at the Warsaw University, starts his work by acquainting the readers with a brief history of Liberia, the beginning of the Liberian statehood and life in Liberia under the domination of the Americo-Liberians. He then presents the William Tolbert era and the economic collapse. In the next chapters Mr.Trzcinski discusses, in details, the origin of the Liberian wars, and then describes the war itself, peace and the series of new wars that ensued in the Liberian war history that took about fourteen years before coming to and end in 2003.

A similar section is devoted to Sierra Leone. In the second part of the book, the origin of the war in Sierra Leone, the war itself and the fights in Guinea are described. The book finishes with a report on social and economic consequences of the wars in both countries, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The author, fascinated by Africa, has traveled to many African countries. He did his research in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Ghana, Mali, the Gambia, and the Ivory Cost. He personally talked with Liberian refugees in different refugee camps, which enabled him to gather authentic information from eyewitnesses and people who had experienced the cruelty of the war and had gone through the war trauma. This, accompanied by a detailed research in different libraries, has created an extremely interesting and appealing book.

The cover of the book, with the title in Polish and a child soldier

The book is even more important, as it is the first study about the Liberian wars to be published in Poland. What’s more interesting about the book is that the Polish population, who is quite familiar with the African problems, doesn’t know much about Liberia and the fourteen-year war. That’s why we are so happy that Mr. Trzcinski has managed to write and publish this great book.

We recommend the book to all individuals, especially the Polish population, who are interested in knowing more about both the Liberian and Sierra Leonean situations.