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Chasing the Devil: The Search for Africa's Fighting Spirit
For many years Sierra Leone and Liberia have been too dangerous to travel through, bedevilled by a uniquely brutal form of violence from which sprang many of Africa's cruellest contemporary icons. This travel book touches on one of the most fraught parts of the globe at a different moment in its history.
1000 pages, Hardcover
First published September 2, 2010
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4333 people want to read
About the author
Tim Butcher
12 books1,277 followersTim Butcher is a best-selling British author, journalist and broadcaster. Born in 1967, he was on the staff of The Daily Telegraph from 1990 to 2009, covering conflicts across the Balkans, Middle East and Africa. Recognised in 2010 with an honorary doctorate for services to writing and awarded the Mungo Park Medal for exploration by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, he is based with his family in Cape Town, South Africa.
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October 12, 2021
VIAGGIO NEL GIARDINO DEL BENE E DEL MALE
Se questo libro fosse un’automobile, tanto più per dove è ambientato, lo descriverei così: 4WD (trazione integrale), ABS (Antilock Braking System), PDC (Park Distance Control), ESP (Electronic Stability Control), CC (Cruise Control), Boardcomputer, tettuccio apribile, servosterzo, sedili riscaldati, portapacchi, lettore CD e DVD, autoradio, interni in pelle, immobilizzatore elettronico, filtro antiparticolato, fendinebbia, controllo trazione, controllo automatico clima, chiusura centralizzata, cerchi in lega, antifurto, alzacristalli elettrici, airbag passeggero e laterali,…
In modo più sintetico, full optional.
C’è tutto in questo libro: avventura, storia, geografia, politica, cronaca, autobiografia, suspense, sentimento, superstizione, paura, pericolo, violenza, guerra, mistero…
Un’opera multistrato.
Assolutamente on the road, come nella migliore tradizione.
Il City Hotel di Freetown, in Sierra Leone, reso celebre da Graham Greene. È stato demolito.
La tradizione è quella della letteratura inglese di viaggio, nella quale Tim Butcher si inserisce a meraviglia: centro pieno anche con il secondo tentativo (il primo è quello sul Congo, Fiume di sangue).
E va in compagnia di autori che ho sempre amato: E.M.Forster, E.Waugh, N.Douglas, R.Byron, W.S.Maugham, B.Chatwin, gente che ha trasformato il viaggiare in letteratura, in arte.
Insieme a un altro autore, per me di culto, Graham Greene, qui perno centrale e molto citato, in quanto il viaggio di Tim Butcher è proprio sulle orme di un identico viaggio, percorso nello stesso identico modo da G.Greene in compagnia di sua cugina Barbara nel 1935.
Il mercato di Monrovia, capitale della Liberia.
Stratagemma che consente a TB di andare avanti e indietro nel tempo, e, senza dimenticare di raccontare tutta la gestazione di questa parte del continente africano dal suo nascere al mondo diventando Sierra Leone e Liberia, fare confronti ed entrare nei particolari delle vicende degli ultimi decenni e dei giorni nostri.
Miniera di diamanti in Sierra Leone.
TB ama l’Africa, la conosce e vuole conoscerla ancora più a fondo, capirla – ama raccontare, spiegare e spiegarsi, crede nella comunicazione, pratica il miglior giornalismo. Tutte qualità di cui io lettore ho approfittato e goduto e giovato.
Adesso, Tim Butcher si è licenziato da corrispondente del ‘Telegraph’ per avere più tempo per scrivere: mi auguro che il prossimo libro arrivi molto presto, io ci sarò.
Se questo libro fosse un’automobile, tanto più per dove è ambientato, lo descriverei così: 4WD (trazione integrale), ABS (Antilock Braking System), PDC (Park Distance Control), ESP (Electronic Stability Control), CC (Cruise Control), Boardcomputer, tettuccio apribile, servosterzo, sedili riscaldati, portapacchi, lettore CD e DVD, autoradio, interni in pelle, immobilizzatore elettronico, filtro antiparticolato, fendinebbia, controllo trazione, controllo automatico clima, chiusura centralizzata, cerchi in lega, antifurto, alzacristalli elettrici, airbag passeggero e laterali,…
In modo più sintetico, full optional.
C’è tutto in questo libro: avventura, storia, geografia, politica, cronaca, autobiografia, suspense, sentimento, superstizione, paura, pericolo, violenza, guerra, mistero…
Un’opera multistrato.
Assolutamente on the road, come nella migliore tradizione.
Il City Hotel di Freetown, in Sierra Leone, reso celebre da Graham Greene. È stato demolito.
La tradizione è quella della letteratura inglese di viaggio, nella quale Tim Butcher si inserisce a meraviglia: centro pieno anche con il secondo tentativo (il primo è quello sul Congo, Fiume di sangue).
E va in compagnia di autori che ho sempre amato: E.M.Forster, E.Waugh, N.Douglas, R.Byron, W.S.Maugham, B.Chatwin, gente che ha trasformato il viaggiare in letteratura, in arte.
Insieme a un altro autore, per me di culto, Graham Greene, qui perno centrale e molto citato, in quanto il viaggio di Tim Butcher è proprio sulle orme di un identico viaggio, percorso nello stesso identico modo da G.Greene in compagnia di sua cugina Barbara nel 1935.
Il mercato di Monrovia, capitale della Liberia.
Stratagemma che consente a TB di andare avanti e indietro nel tempo, e, senza dimenticare di raccontare tutta la gestazione di questa parte del continente africano dal suo nascere al mondo diventando Sierra Leone e Liberia, fare confronti ed entrare nei particolari delle vicende degli ultimi decenni e dei giorni nostri.
Miniera di diamanti in Sierra Leone.
TB ama l’Africa, la conosce e vuole conoscerla ancora più a fondo, capirla – ama raccontare, spiegare e spiegarsi, crede nella comunicazione, pratica il miglior giornalismo. Tutte qualità di cui io lettore ho approfittato e goduto e giovato.
Adesso, Tim Butcher si è licenziato da corrispondente del ‘Telegraph’ per avere più tempo per scrivere: mi auguro che il prossimo libro arrivi molto presto, io ci sarò.
January 25, 2013
To get my one gripe out of the way first: - It might be a fairly stupidly obvious thing to say but the titles given to books can be really important; they might be the initial hook to draw us to pick the thing up in the first place, the crutch to keep us going and indeed they sometimes colour our understanding or interpretation of the book's content. With this book I found the title aggravating. I began to read it because I had been genuinely moved and amazed by the previous book I had read of Butcher's, 'Blood River' and therefore i decided to pick this up even though the title seemed a tad histrionic and sensationalist.
Butcher admirably elucidates what he means by the 'Devil', but it grated because the title itself did not accurately describe what we were reading. The 'devil' is shorthand for the admittedly horrendous secret societies of the African hinterland, the main one he 'encountered' being the Poro. However, Butcher is not really investigating them in any sense in which 'chasing' would be an accurate verb. Instead, if anything, he stumbles across them and then encounters their total secrecy, the breaking of which is punishable by amputation, isolation and, tragically on many occasions, death. I know this will seem a ridiculously picky moan but there you are.
Having said that i feel better.
Butcher does writes a fascinating and very personal travelogue folowing in the footsteps of Graham Greene and his cousin, Barbara who walked the self same hike across Liberia in 1935. What Butcher and his three companions do,(The three companions being David, a Brit and two local men Johnson and Mr Omaru. Though local appears to have a very small geographically specific meaning in Liberia,), is seek to emulate as far as is possible the Greenes' trail. Amazingly they often encounter things dramatically unchanged or perhaps more depressingly, much worse after the years of coup and counter-coup, of violence and repression, of depressingly familiar embezzlement, corruption and short-sighted hypocrisy.
The arrogant leadership of the descendants of freed slaves who ruled and, astoundingly, enslaved the native bush dwellers up until into the 30's when Greene was surreptiously investigatng this was finally swept aside by an horrendous bloodletting in 1980. Doe, the new Dictator was himself brutally murdered 10 years later after himself wading through the much mourned 'rivers of blood' and then Charles Taylor swept to power and it was he who finally destroyed totally the infrastructure and spirit of the Country. After the brutal civil war his ousting might have heralded a positive future but corruption and the power of secret tribal aliances and societies devestated even this small hope.
Certainly Butcher enables his reader to see the power of these groups and the uphill struggle the wider community has to weaken or at least soften the power exercised by the shadowy leaders and his analysis of why these societies hamstring development was fascinating.
"It is a community-focused phenomenon, born from the necessity of surviving in the tough West African bush, and by its nature it stresses the value of the group over the individual, of developing at the pace of the lowest common denominator, not the advanced outlier. And it is this feature of Poro, and any other secret society found elsewhere in Africa, that condemns its followers to flatlining stagnation"
Obviously this quotation, taken out of its context, probably sounds horrendous as surely humanity at its best should develop by bearing in mind those at the lowest and most vulnerable points in society but the Poro do this at the expense of freedom and individuality and independence of thought. They impose it not through an overall recognition of the needs of the weakest but often by an intransigent maintaining at all costs of the power structure which survives through fear, intimidation and rank cruelty.
It is a depressingly familiar story which weighs the reader down because the seeming hopelessness of the situation serves only to show how far Liberia is from a fighting chance of improvement whilst corruption and nepotism and violence still holds sway. At one point Johnson, a seemingly lovely bloke whose personality Butcher enables to shine through the narrative, loses his normal 'joie de vivre' as he passes through one isolated village on the hike. In a group of men who are idly sitting at peace and quiet in the heat of the day, Johnson has spotted one of the chief architects of Taylor's brutal violence and cruelty. This man remains at large, unpunished and quite clearly unfazed. He knows he will never be called to account and so, powerlessly, does Johnson.
Tim Butcher is an excellent writer, he has a lovely turn of phrase and is a dab hand at the striking image. In an abandoned rubber plantation
"There were giants(trees) as thick as my torso, with boles as misshapen as recently-fed pythons" . Having just watched one horrible scene invoving a python in 'Snakes on a plane' this brought me a lurch of realization.
He writes with humour when appropriate and very movingly at others. His references to his own experiences in war-torn Liberia and also his third party accounts of friends' and colleagues' are genuinely poignant and striking.
The sacrifices and deprivations undergone by the journalists so as to report from these places of horror and blood are often impressive and noble but the thing i most admired about Butcher's accounts was that he never sought to make their sacrifices out to be worse then the people of whom and for whom they were reporting. The journalists, though brave, could opt to not go. His account makes very clear his recognition that tragically the people on the ground, those most in need, have not the luxury of any kind of choice.
ps. Just a quick word for the lovely pencil drawings at the head of each chapter. They are by Sally Stephens and they are enchanting.
Butcher admirably elucidates what he means by the 'Devil', but it grated because the title itself did not accurately describe what we were reading. The 'devil' is shorthand for the admittedly horrendous secret societies of the African hinterland, the main one he 'encountered' being the Poro. However, Butcher is not really investigating them in any sense in which 'chasing' would be an accurate verb. Instead, if anything, he stumbles across them and then encounters their total secrecy, the breaking of which is punishable by amputation, isolation and, tragically on many occasions, death. I know this will seem a ridiculously picky moan but there you are.
Having said that i feel better.
Butcher does writes a fascinating and very personal travelogue folowing in the footsteps of Graham Greene and his cousin, Barbara who walked the self same hike across Liberia in 1935. What Butcher and his three companions do,(The three companions being David, a Brit and two local men Johnson and Mr Omaru. Though local appears to have a very small geographically specific meaning in Liberia,), is seek to emulate as far as is possible the Greenes' trail. Amazingly they often encounter things dramatically unchanged or perhaps more depressingly, much worse after the years of coup and counter-coup, of violence and repression, of depressingly familiar embezzlement, corruption and short-sighted hypocrisy.
The arrogant leadership of the descendants of freed slaves who ruled and, astoundingly, enslaved the native bush dwellers up until into the 30's when Greene was surreptiously investigatng this was finally swept aside by an horrendous bloodletting in 1980. Doe, the new Dictator was himself brutally murdered 10 years later after himself wading through the much mourned 'rivers of blood' and then Charles Taylor swept to power and it was he who finally destroyed totally the infrastructure and spirit of the Country. After the brutal civil war his ousting might have heralded a positive future but corruption and the power of secret tribal aliances and societies devestated even this small hope.
Certainly Butcher enables his reader to see the power of these groups and the uphill struggle the wider community has to weaken or at least soften the power exercised by the shadowy leaders and his analysis of why these societies hamstring development was fascinating.
"It is a community-focused phenomenon, born from the necessity of surviving in the tough West African bush, and by its nature it stresses the value of the group over the individual, of developing at the pace of the lowest common denominator, not the advanced outlier. And it is this feature of Poro, and any other secret society found elsewhere in Africa, that condemns its followers to flatlining stagnation"
Obviously this quotation, taken out of its context, probably sounds horrendous as surely humanity at its best should develop by bearing in mind those at the lowest and most vulnerable points in society but the Poro do this at the expense of freedom and individuality and independence of thought. They impose it not through an overall recognition of the needs of the weakest but often by an intransigent maintaining at all costs of the power structure which survives through fear, intimidation and rank cruelty.
It is a depressingly familiar story which weighs the reader down because the seeming hopelessness of the situation serves only to show how far Liberia is from a fighting chance of improvement whilst corruption and nepotism and violence still holds sway. At one point Johnson, a seemingly lovely bloke whose personality Butcher enables to shine through the narrative, loses his normal 'joie de vivre' as he passes through one isolated village on the hike. In a group of men who are idly sitting at peace and quiet in the heat of the day, Johnson has spotted one of the chief architects of Taylor's brutal violence and cruelty. This man remains at large, unpunished and quite clearly unfazed. He knows he will never be called to account and so, powerlessly, does Johnson.
Tim Butcher is an excellent writer, he has a lovely turn of phrase and is a dab hand at the striking image. In an abandoned rubber plantation
"There were giants(trees) as thick as my torso, with boles as misshapen as recently-fed pythons" . Having just watched one horrible scene invoving a python in 'Snakes on a plane' this brought me a lurch of realization.
He writes with humour when appropriate and very movingly at others. His references to his own experiences in war-torn Liberia and also his third party accounts of friends' and colleagues' are genuinely poignant and striking.
The sacrifices and deprivations undergone by the journalists so as to report from these places of horror and blood are often impressive and noble but the thing i most admired about Butcher's accounts was that he never sought to make their sacrifices out to be worse then the people of whom and for whom they were reporting. The journalists, though brave, could opt to not go. His account makes very clear his recognition that tragically the people on the ground, those most in need, have not the luxury of any kind of choice.
ps. Just a quick word for the lovely pencil drawings at the head of each chapter. They are by Sally Stephens and they are enchanting.
March 27, 2020
You know you have enjoyed a good travel book, when, like the author, you are saddened that the journey has come to an end.
Tim Butcher, along with three other companions, makes a trek in 2009 across Sierra Leone, Guinea, and then Liberia, by bus, but mostly walking. He is following in the footsteps of the writer Graham Greene who did the journey in the 1930’s.
Tim Butcher gives us a good history of the small communities and regions that he traverses. In recent years they were plagued by brutal civil wars (Charles Taylor and the RUF – Revolutionary United Front - terrorized many areas where he passed through). They are in various stages of recovery and it explains the abject poverty along the roads and small villages; but overall, most people are receptive and provided much needed food, accommodation and water, and were also curious about his trip. Tim Butcher has an excellent ability to put the people he encounters at their ease, enabling us, the reader, to gain insight in how they cope and live their daily lives.
This book is much more about Tim Butcher’s trip than the one of Graham Greene, so one is not overly burdened with the past memoirs of this author (which is good, as I find Graham Greene to be overly cynical!).
We get an intimate and sometimes dark view of the land and people who have just undergone this vicious war in the rural remote areas of these countries, where at the time cell phone reception hardly existed. These communities are isolated from the main urban centres of Freetown (Sierra Leone) and Monrovia (Liberia). What goes on in the capital cities is one thing and totally removed from the hinterland. There is still a mysterious devil worship (indicative in the books’ title) that exists and was partially visible, but mostly hidden, to the author.
This is a unique travel narrative. Tim Butcher and his colleagues were exhausted at the end of their long walk from the heat and humidity.
Tim Butcher, along with three other companions, makes a trek in 2009 across Sierra Leone, Guinea, and then Liberia, by bus, but mostly walking. He is following in the footsteps of the writer Graham Greene who did the journey in the 1930’s.
Tim Butcher gives us a good history of the small communities and regions that he traverses. In recent years they were plagued by brutal civil wars (Charles Taylor and the RUF – Revolutionary United Front - terrorized many areas where he passed through). They are in various stages of recovery and it explains the abject poverty along the roads and small villages; but overall, most people are receptive and provided much needed food, accommodation and water, and were also curious about his trip. Tim Butcher has an excellent ability to put the people he encounters at their ease, enabling us, the reader, to gain insight in how they cope and live their daily lives.
This book is much more about Tim Butcher’s trip than the one of Graham Greene, so one is not overly burdened with the past memoirs of this author (which is good, as I find Graham Greene to be overly cynical!).
We get an intimate and sometimes dark view of the land and people who have just undergone this vicious war in the rural remote areas of these countries, where at the time cell phone reception hardly existed. These communities are isolated from the main urban centres of Freetown (Sierra Leone) and Monrovia (Liberia). What goes on in the capital cities is one thing and totally removed from the hinterland. There is still a mysterious devil worship (indicative in the books’ title) that exists and was partially visible, but mostly hidden, to the author.
This is a unique travel narrative. Tim Butcher and his colleagues were exhausted at the end of their long walk from the heat and humidity.
July 17, 2017
The premise of Tim Butcher's second book Chasing the Devil is following the route of Graham Greene and cousin Barbara Greene, as described in the classic Journey Without Maps.
Greene's journey took place in 1935, Tim Butcher's in 2009. The setting is West Africa - Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. It was not Butchers first time in Sierra Leone or Liberia having spent time in both as a war correspondent / journalist, and the book is largely built on contrasts (or lack of contrasts) between the Greene's experience, Butchers's previous experience and the current journey.
The journey, undertaken with another young Englishman, David Poraj-Wilczynski, who happily sits in the background for the most part, and accompanied by two locals - Johnson Boie, guide and facilitator, and Mr Omaru, motorcycle transporter of the baggage. These two played a huge part of the success of the travel.
The books is rich is history, outlining the complex and often confusing history of each country particularly Sierra Leone and Liberia. In their most brief - Sierra Leone was formed by the British as a place to repatriate the freed slaves of Britain. Britain ruled as a colonial outpost, until it achieved independence in 1960. Self rule was relatively successful until the 1990s, where an ugly civil war in Liberia spilled over the border and overtook Sierra Leone.
Liberia was formed under similar circumstances, but by America. Rather than an assisted transition like Sierra Leone, in Liberia America simply transported the freed slaves off, and periodically provided money to assist their establishment. The government formed was primarily by the Americo-Liberians, who look whatever advantages over the other ethnic groups and at their worst, enslaving them. In 1980 a coup, followed by executions of those ousted, was followed by an election (deemed fraudulent internationally). By 1990, civil war was spilling into neighbouring Sierra Leone.
Chasing the Devil explains this history in a more fluent way, explaining some of Butchers experiences while reporting in the civil war, and weaving it with the explanations given by the Greene's some seventy years earlier. Despite there being roads available on the routes the Greene's had taken by foot, Butcher and his companions take the forest trails by foot, while Mr Omaru transports their packs.
The title of the book comes from the native poro bush society, which in its secretive way, controls the traditions and culture of the villages. The devils represent, not evil, as for a Christian expectation of the devil, but as a being of power of both benevolence and cruelty. The fantastically painted masks are the centrepiece of the devil costume, and tradition dictates that the devil stays anonymous. Sacrifices and other rituals still play their part.
Throughout the book we are also provided with more background on Graham Greene, and early on a more in depth reasoning why he undertook his original journey. Greene is a fascinating character, and an author I have read a lot. I read Journey Without Maps around 4 years ago, which was just before I started reviewing, which is a shame. I should also have followed up with this book a little closer to that reading, as it would have assisted in the links.
Overall a well woven tale, providing all that could be asked of Sierra Leone and Liberia by way of history and experience.
4 stars.
Greene's journey took place in 1935, Tim Butcher's in 2009. The setting is West Africa - Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. It was not Butchers first time in Sierra Leone or Liberia having spent time in both as a war correspondent / journalist, and the book is largely built on contrasts (or lack of contrasts) between the Greene's experience, Butchers's previous experience and the current journey.
The journey, undertaken with another young Englishman, David Poraj-Wilczynski, who happily sits in the background for the most part, and accompanied by two locals - Johnson Boie, guide and facilitator, and Mr Omaru, motorcycle transporter of the baggage. These two played a huge part of the success of the travel.
The books is rich is history, outlining the complex and often confusing history of each country particularly Sierra Leone and Liberia. In their most brief - Sierra Leone was formed by the British as a place to repatriate the freed slaves of Britain. Britain ruled as a colonial outpost, until it achieved independence in 1960. Self rule was relatively successful until the 1990s, where an ugly civil war in Liberia spilled over the border and overtook Sierra Leone.
Liberia was formed under similar circumstances, but by America. Rather than an assisted transition like Sierra Leone, in Liberia America simply transported the freed slaves off, and periodically provided money to assist their establishment. The government formed was primarily by the Americo-Liberians, who look whatever advantages over the other ethnic groups and at their worst, enslaving them. In 1980 a coup, followed by executions of those ousted, was followed by an election (deemed fraudulent internationally). By 1990, civil war was spilling into neighbouring Sierra Leone.
Chasing the Devil explains this history in a more fluent way, explaining some of Butchers experiences while reporting in the civil war, and weaving it with the explanations given by the Greene's some seventy years earlier. Despite there being roads available on the routes the Greene's had taken by foot, Butcher and his companions take the forest trails by foot, while Mr Omaru transports their packs.
The title of the book comes from the native poro bush society, which in its secretive way, controls the traditions and culture of the villages. The devils represent, not evil, as for a Christian expectation of the devil, but as a being of power of both benevolence and cruelty. The fantastically painted masks are the centrepiece of the devil costume, and tradition dictates that the devil stays anonymous. Sacrifices and other rituals still play their part.
Throughout the book we are also provided with more background on Graham Greene, and early on a more in depth reasoning why he undertook his original journey. Greene is a fascinating character, and an author I have read a lot. I read Journey Without Maps around 4 years ago, which was just before I started reviewing, which is a shame. I should also have followed up with this book a little closer to that reading, as it would have assisted in the links.
Overall a well woven tale, providing all that could be asked of Sierra Leone and Liberia by way of history and experience.
4 stars.
February 4, 2017
This is the second book written by the author and least promoted among the three written by the author.But no way it is inferior .This book is a goldmine of knowledge as far as Liberia is concerned.The only problem is stressing on Greenes' travel and too much description about them (which sometimes bores the reader).The travelogue keeps you interested and simultaneously underlines the problems of West Africa and urges the international community to act.The best part is that there is an expression of hope for betterment as the journey goes on.This book might not go down as a reference book on Liberia but still it is a must read for anyone interested in Liberia.
September 20, 2012
I am a child of Africa, growing up in Central Africa, well remembering how it all changed when the then Belgium Congo gained independence.
After reading 'Blood River' I discovered Tim's other book about Liberia/Sierra Leone. These are countries of which I have little knowledge other than horrific press releases and I was interested to read some of their historic background.
It is difficult to rate a book on this topic with a 'like', not the most appropriate word when reading of the cruelty of humankind but if you are interested in Africa, it is a good read. I rather admire Tim for tackling this walk, facing first hand the harsh realities of the civil war but getting to meet those special people who pick up the pieces and start afresh.
One paragraph which really caught my attention:
'For those trying to make sense of modern Africa, Liberia has always been a problem. As an African nation that was not colonised by white outsiders, the example of Liberia undercuts those who blame white colonist's for all of the continent's problems. Outsiders settled in Liberia where they enjoyed disproportionate status but the country was never in the possession of a foreign power. By touching on Sierra Leone, a former white colony, and Liberia, never a white colony, I felt the trip allowed me to get away from the stranglehold of colour-obsessed analysis and consider their common problems'.
Well said!
After reading 'Blood River' I discovered Tim's other book about Liberia/Sierra Leone. These are countries of which I have little knowledge other than horrific press releases and I was interested to read some of their historic background.
It is difficult to rate a book on this topic with a 'like', not the most appropriate word when reading of the cruelty of humankind but if you are interested in Africa, it is a good read. I rather admire Tim for tackling this walk, facing first hand the harsh realities of the civil war but getting to meet those special people who pick up the pieces and start afresh.
One paragraph which really caught my attention:
'For those trying to make sense of modern Africa, Liberia has always been a problem. As an African nation that was not colonised by white outsiders, the example of Liberia undercuts those who blame white colonist's for all of the continent's problems. Outsiders settled in Liberia where they enjoyed disproportionate status but the country was never in the possession of a foreign power. By touching on Sierra Leone, a former white colony, and Liberia, never a white colony, I felt the trip allowed me to get away from the stranglehold of colour-obsessed analysis and consider their common problems'.
Well said!
March 27, 2012
Tim Butcher's second travel book offering takes the reader on our journey through west Africa in the footsteps of Graham Greene. He and his traveling companion travel through Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia by road, foot and boat, recreating a journey made by Graham Greene and his cousin Barbara in 1935 which eventually led to Greene writing 'Journey Without Maps'. As with his previous book Blood River, Butcher takes on considerable risk by choosing to make this journey in an area of Africa not well known for its political stability.
Liberia is more well known for blood diamonds and child soldiers than for travel, and Butcher delves into its history as he traverses the land and meets local people. He introduces the reader to local culture such as the 'devils' mentioned in the title; sorcerers with magical powers that still play a very prevalent role in today's society. He also draws obvious parallels between his journey and Greene's, with particular witness to the fact that many of the villages he visits in remote jungles are much the same and no better off than they were 77 years ago.
It is a journey very different from that in Blood River, but a bold and fascinating one nonetheless. Let's hope Butcher continues his adventures so we may continue to enjoy his work.
Liberia is more well known for blood diamonds and child soldiers than for travel, and Butcher delves into its history as he traverses the land and meets local people. He introduces the reader to local culture such as the 'devils' mentioned in the title; sorcerers with magical powers that still play a very prevalent role in today's society. He also draws obvious parallels between his journey and Greene's, with particular witness to the fact that many of the villages he visits in remote jungles are much the same and no better off than they were 77 years ago.
It is a journey very different from that in Blood River, but a bold and fascinating one nonetheless. Let's hope Butcher continues his adventures so we may continue to enjoy his work.
April 2, 2021
I came to this book through the auspices of the author's previous work, Blood River.
That was good work, well worth reading. I tossed a good-natured 3.5* lambaste at it for what I felt, during the reading was a needless use of the commonly overused device of what one might call the ''following in the footsteps'' tradition of travel books which seem to be quite in fashion these days.
In the case of Blood River, it was a trip through the Congo in the footsteps of those two iconic figures of the Age of Empire Stanley & Livingston. The premise of my review of the book being that what Mr. Butcher had to say could be said eloquently enough without the extra dollop of historical dressing.
Perhaps now, in light of this reading of Chasing The Devil, that criticism may prove in need of moderation, aimed as badly and tossed as carelessly as it was from where I was lounging about in a comfortable armchair set in the peanut-throwing public reading gallery.
There is much utility in the use of such thematic hooks as these,I have since learned.
In Chasing The Devil, the author uses Graham Greene's 1936 Journey Without Maps as his travel template. Although, here the theme rides much more comfortably and is better integrated with the author’s story of this rather dark, sweaty adventure through Liberia than the Blood River theme.
But a review would not be a credible review without some gripes. And so, the gripe with Mr. Butcher here is this: that one doesn't go about chasing down devils through deepest, darkest Africa to get to the dirty bottom of things by pulling punches that presumably will spare the more refined sensibilities of an editor or some of his many well mannered readers.
One senses that here is an author whose true predilection and nature seems to gravitate towards the darker colors of a palette of the worlds he travels through and paints. Maddeningly, Chasing The Devil appears to me to put an undersized frame on what deserves to be a much larger canvas.
Or maybe, I’m just a tad too spoiled and entitled to take a straight up adventure story like Chasing The Devil for what it appears to be on its surface? For no matter how much we wish it weren’t, it is the abominations of this world which spark our true fascination and I fear there was much more here of an unknown, shadow world that our intrepid traveler had to sketch. A significant world, deep & dark & dangerous to the touch.
But perhaps, that is the gift the writer gives us, to draw our appetites towards more?
Nevertheless, it is a very interesting book by an author who has something to say and knows how to say it and I am very glad indeed that Mr. Butcher has written it.
That was good work, well worth reading. I tossed a good-natured 3.5* lambaste at it for what I felt, during the reading was a needless use of the commonly overused device of what one might call the ''following in the footsteps'' tradition of travel books which seem to be quite in fashion these days.
In the case of Blood River, it was a trip through the Congo in the footsteps of those two iconic figures of the Age of Empire Stanley & Livingston. The premise of my review of the book being that what Mr. Butcher had to say could be said eloquently enough without the extra dollop of historical dressing.
Perhaps now, in light of this reading of Chasing The Devil, that criticism may prove in need of moderation, aimed as badly and tossed as carelessly as it was from where I was lounging about in a comfortable armchair set in the peanut-throwing public reading gallery.
There is much utility in the use of such thematic hooks as these,I have since learned.
In Chasing The Devil, the author uses Graham Greene's 1936 Journey Without Maps as his travel template. Although, here the theme rides much more comfortably and is better integrated with the author’s story of this rather dark, sweaty adventure through Liberia than the Blood River theme.
But a review would not be a credible review without some gripes. And so, the gripe with Mr. Butcher here is this: that one doesn't go about chasing down devils through deepest, darkest Africa to get to the dirty bottom of things by pulling punches that presumably will spare the more refined sensibilities of an editor or some of his many well mannered readers.
One senses that here is an author whose true predilection and nature seems to gravitate towards the darker colors of a palette of the worlds he travels through and paints. Maddeningly, Chasing The Devil appears to me to put an undersized frame on what deserves to be a much larger canvas.
Or maybe, I’m just a tad too spoiled and entitled to take a straight up adventure story like Chasing The Devil for what it appears to be on its surface? For no matter how much we wish it weren’t, it is the abominations of this world which spark our true fascination and I fear there was much more here of an unknown, shadow world that our intrepid traveler had to sketch. A significant world, deep & dark & dangerous to the touch.
But perhaps, that is the gift the writer gives us, to draw our appetites towards more?
Nevertheless, it is a very interesting book by an author who has something to say and knows how to say it and I am very glad indeed that Mr. Butcher has written it.
August 16, 2013
I love this writer and I loved this book as much as Blood River. For anyone interested in trying to understand some complex areas of Africa from more than just sensationalized headlines this is a must read. Butcher's analysis of both Sierra Lione and Liberia from both a contemporary and historical perspective is thoughtful, well researched and personal. Besides all that, it reads like a very interesting adventure travel book.
In much the same way as Blood River, he uses his interaction with locals to better understand complex political issues, and a brutal legacy of war that could otherwise leave you a bit burned out. I will be thinking about this book for a long time to come...
In much the same way as Blood River, he uses his interaction with locals to better understand complex political issues, and a brutal legacy of war that could otherwise leave you a bit burned out. I will be thinking about this book for a long time to come...
November 28, 2014
Having read Butcher´s first book ”Blood River”, I set to reading his further adventures in Africa with great interest.
Right from the beginning of the book, I was happy to note that his writing had evolved to a more emotional style, compared to his first book, hence making the reading experience richer for me. Butcher´s writing seems more relaxed on this book - i guess not being his first book, he has nothing to prove to anyone anymore and as such is more free to convey through his emotions too?
On the first chapter he sets the scene for his upcoming trip to Sierra Leone and Liberia, and leaves the delighted reader thirsty and impatient to read the upcoming adventures, this time following the footsteps of Graham Greene and his cousin Barbara (in contrast to those of Stanley in the Democratic Republic of Congo in his earlier work).
While informatively shedding light to the dark history of aforementioned Western African countries, Butcher is constantly comparing the experience of Greene (an author that I adore) from the 1935 to that experienced by him some seventy years later. As such, besides learning about the history of these countries, the reader gets to experience two travel stories simultaneously; that of Graham Greene and Butcher´s own. This constant comparison, fruit of extensive research by the author, makes interesting reading and gives the book, and Butcher´s adventure, a clear lifeline that it follows. Butcher refers to Greene´s books and observations in his novel, and myself having recently read G.Greene´s “Heart of the matter”, a fiction novel also taking place in Sierra Leone, it was interesting to see some of the observations. I also realize, that I could have read Greene´s non-fiction work”Journey without maps” before reading Butcher´s work, in order to get a more complete reading experience.
As Butcher´s first novel “Blood River”, “Chasing the Devil” was a shocking read, a great combination of adventure and history and a truly educational experience for me. Butcher is a courageous reporter who managed to write an informative and well researched thrilling travel book on these two Western African countries, and I look forward to reading his future travel adventure work.
Right from the beginning of the book, I was happy to note that his writing had evolved to a more emotional style, compared to his first book, hence making the reading experience richer for me. Butcher´s writing seems more relaxed on this book - i guess not being his first book, he has nothing to prove to anyone anymore and as such is more free to convey through his emotions too?
On the first chapter he sets the scene for his upcoming trip to Sierra Leone and Liberia, and leaves the delighted reader thirsty and impatient to read the upcoming adventures, this time following the footsteps of Graham Greene and his cousin Barbara (in contrast to those of Stanley in the Democratic Republic of Congo in his earlier work).
While informatively shedding light to the dark history of aforementioned Western African countries, Butcher is constantly comparing the experience of Greene (an author that I adore) from the 1935 to that experienced by him some seventy years later. As such, besides learning about the history of these countries, the reader gets to experience two travel stories simultaneously; that of Graham Greene and Butcher´s own. This constant comparison, fruit of extensive research by the author, makes interesting reading and gives the book, and Butcher´s adventure, a clear lifeline that it follows. Butcher refers to Greene´s books and observations in his novel, and myself having recently read G.Greene´s “Heart of the matter”, a fiction novel also taking place in Sierra Leone, it was interesting to see some of the observations. I also realize, that I could have read Greene´s non-fiction work”Journey without maps” before reading Butcher´s work, in order to get a more complete reading experience.
As Butcher´s first novel “Blood River”, “Chasing the Devil” was a shocking read, a great combination of adventure and history and a truly educational experience for me. Butcher is a courageous reporter who managed to write an informative and well researched thrilling travel book on these two Western African countries, and I look forward to reading his future travel adventure work.
December 2, 2017
Tim Butcher's books are a great way to get to know Africa. Early this year I read Blood River, his account of traveling through war-torn Congo following the route of Henry Morton Stanley, and was fascinated but disturbed by his journey. Chasing the Devil is an account of Butcher's trek through parts of Sierra Leone and Liberia, tracing the steps of a journey novelist (and later MI6spy) Graham Greene took in the 1930s. Though hazardous and difficult, this quest seemed less suicidal than Butcher's DR Congo quest, so I was more able to relax and enjoy reading the book!
Modern Sierra Leone was settled by former slaves and blacks from the British Empire, though it did go through a protectorate period ruled by whites. Liberia became a sort of new hope/dumping ground for blacks from the United States before the Civil War, and is unique in post-colonial Africa as having been always led by blacks. Even here, however, the Americo-Liberians (elite newcomers), who represented about 10% of the population, ruled over the 90% "country" indigenous peoples, and the same sorts of civil conflicts have plagued the land in the last 50 years.
Butcher's books are travelogues, they're histories, they're commentaries on the anthropology of the native groups, but I especially love his journalist's spin trying to analyze WHY Africa is so troubled. I think his points about tribal loyalties over national interests are solid, as is his reading on community survival over individual success. This book's repeating theme of the Poro bush tradition of Devil power was especially fascinating, and showed what a hold these "secret societies" with their initiation culture have over the native peoples. Native rituals and legends are kept secret on threat of death, so much is unknown, but it's proven that human sacrifice and ritual cannibalism (eating an enemy's heart to gain his strength, for example) are still practiced in the back country of Sierra Leone and Liberia. Butcher shows how even this has played a role in the continuous civil unrest.
I absolutely recommend journalist Tim Butcher's books on Africa - quite a trip!!!
Modern Sierra Leone was settled by former slaves and blacks from the British Empire, though it did go through a protectorate period ruled by whites. Liberia became a sort of new hope/dumping ground for blacks from the United States before the Civil War, and is unique in post-colonial Africa as having been always led by blacks. Even here, however, the Americo-Liberians (elite newcomers), who represented about 10% of the population, ruled over the 90% "country" indigenous peoples, and the same sorts of civil conflicts have plagued the land in the last 50 years.
Butcher's books are travelogues, they're histories, they're commentaries on the anthropology of the native groups, but I especially love his journalist's spin trying to analyze WHY Africa is so troubled. I think his points about tribal loyalties over national interests are solid, as is his reading on community survival over individual success. This book's repeating theme of the Poro bush tradition of Devil power was especially fascinating, and showed what a hold these "secret societies" with their initiation culture have over the native peoples. Native rituals and legends are kept secret on threat of death, so much is unknown, but it's proven that human sacrifice and ritual cannibalism (eating an enemy's heart to gain his strength, for example) are still practiced in the back country of Sierra Leone and Liberia. Butcher shows how even this has played a role in the continuous civil unrest.
I absolutely recommend journalist Tim Butcher's books on Africa - quite a trip!!!
October 8, 2012
Tim Butcher is a former British newspaper reporter and war correspondent now living in South Africa, who has that knack for travel to places you probably don't want to visit.
His previous book, Blood River: The Terrifying Journey Through The World's Most Dangerous Country, in which he retraced Henry Morton Stanley's 1870 trek, was harrowing (read it, too).
For his second book, Mr. Butcher has chosen a part of Africa even less accessible than the Congo. Mr. Butcher sets out to cross postwar Sierra Leone and Liberia. This is the kind of travel book I love, an adventure in a place out of time, in a world where there are fewer and fewer places left to have such an adventure.
As an American, I'm perhaps a wee bit less enamored with Graham Greene than Mr. Butcher's natural British audience (he was a reporter for the Telegraph). The Quiet American is as far as I've got with Graham Greene, with The Heart of the Matter still in my stack of to-be-read, but it turns out that's not important. As with Blood River, Mr. Butcher draws the reader into the immediate circumstance of being in the place, and actually DOING a few-hundred-mile trek through postwar Liberia and Sierra Leone.
There's a particularly frightening section, and touching tribute, to two friends killed while reporting in Sierra Leone in 2000.
Walking through villages with no commerce. Imagine you, doing it. Having no chilled drink for days and days because there is no refrigeration for days and days. I mean, imagine.
It's thrilling and inspiring to be able to go along.
His previous book, Blood River: The Terrifying Journey Through The World's Most Dangerous Country, in which he retraced Henry Morton Stanley's 1870 trek, was harrowing (read it, too).
For his second book, Mr. Butcher has chosen a part of Africa even less accessible than the Congo. Mr. Butcher sets out to cross postwar Sierra Leone and Liberia. This is the kind of travel book I love, an adventure in a place out of time, in a world where there are fewer and fewer places left to have such an adventure.
As an American, I'm perhaps a wee bit less enamored with Graham Greene than Mr. Butcher's natural British audience (he was a reporter for the Telegraph). The Quiet American is as far as I've got with Graham Greene, with The Heart of the Matter still in my stack of to-be-read, but it turns out that's not important. As with Blood River, Mr. Butcher draws the reader into the immediate circumstance of being in the place, and actually DOING a few-hundred-mile trek through postwar Liberia and Sierra Leone.
There's a particularly frightening section, and touching tribute, to two friends killed while reporting in Sierra Leone in 2000.
Walking through villages with no commerce. Imagine you, doing it. Having no chilled drink for days and days because there is no refrigeration for days and days. I mean, imagine.
It's thrilling and inspiring to be able to go along.
August 13, 2013
While Butcher is a gifted writer, and I dig anyone who deepens my knowledge of Graham Greene, one of my top 5 20th century authors, I never could get past the feeling that he was using Greene as a flimsy hook to a rather contrived adventure narrative. The exploration of Sierra Leone and Liberia might have been deeper, absent the Greene connection. I also found the pacing odd -- so much on Sierra Leone and the very beginning premises of the trip, and then relatively little that lets us really get to know Liberia, its culture or Liberians (even Johnson, Tim's faithful guide remains a cipher). It also seemed very odd that the book's "deepest" insight into West African culture -- i.e., the supposedly development-retarding, civil-war-encouraging nature of the tribal "secret" societies -- came from a conversation over beer with a white North American missionary. It's almost cliche enough to make me reduce my rating to two stars -- the man didn't get to know any Liberians, but he got the real inside scoop at a bar? But it was engrossing and engaging, and a bold enough stunt, so 3 stars.
August 27, 2012
TB's wife made him take out platinum insurance before embarking on this journey and no wonder. This as much a history of Liberia as it is travel writing and it's very enjoyable as both. The author follows the route taken by Graham Greene in 1935 and finds little changed in many respects. It's not as exciting as his trip through the Congo nor, arguably, as dangerous but it's just as shocking in terms of what we learn about the country and the daily struggles of the people. We also gain insight into Greene's character and his writing and you have to admire him and his cousin, Barbara, for undertaking such an arduous and dangerous journey before GPS, mobile phones, etc. TB is an excellent writer / journalist and I'm looking forward already to his next book, whatever that might be.
July 26, 2016
This was a real eye-opener for me, as I had only a sparse knowledge of the region and its politics and history. Tim Butcher leaves you in no doubt as to the harshness of life in Liberia and Sierra Leone, but does so with warmth and humour in the face of immense difficulty. An enlightening, rewarding book, with a serious message to impart.
February 25, 2015
After the efficiency, regulation, stability,economic sophistication and mega-success of Switzerland as set out in Diccon Bewes' Swiss Watching it’s rather hard to imagine where to go next. It came to me in a flash – look for the polar opposite. There was a minor snag in that I had already found it some years ago when my reading group read Tim Butcher’s excellent Blood River, an account of both a ripping Boy’s Own Adventure, tracing the route of H M Stanley along the Congo River, and of the slow and lingering death of the Congo as a viable state. It was scheduled as the conclusion of the book group’s burgeoning fascination with the Congo, an interest first kindled by Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible and continued by Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.
Butcher, former Chief War Correspondent and Africa Bureau Chief of The Daily Telegraph is clearly a glutton for punishment; after the hair-raising adventures in a thoroughly dysfunctional state described in the best-selling Blood River, he sets out again to recreate the dangerous and ambitious exploration of jungle trails through Sierra Leone and Liberia undertaken in 1935 by Graham Greene as detailed in Journey Without Maps. Greene was accompanied on his trek by his redoubtable cousin Barbara, a socialite who made the transition from the elegance of the literary salons of London to the suffocating heat of West Africa with considerable aplomb. This was thanks in part to their trek being accompanied by an entourage of 26 porters, three servants and a chef who each night set up their camp with the tin bath, pair of chairs and brace of beds (at which point I was irresistibly reminded of the well-travelled bedstead which had such a starring role in Lady Franklin’s Revenge). There were also hammocks to transport the pair when the going got especially rough – relied upon by Greene when he became perilously ill and it took Barbara’s stoicism and practical good sense to ensure his survival. After the trauma of reading about the terrifying risks and insane rigours of Butcher’s solo Congo trip it was a relief to find that this time he had his own retinue – David Poraj-Wilczynski, son of a former colleague and a recent Oxbridge graduate who’d been dabbling (without much enthusiasm) in banking; the irrepressible local overland guide Johnson Boie, a former refugee who had worked for aid organisations as a tracing officer, re-uniting war-torn families; and the self-contained Mr Omaru whose trusty Yamaha AG transports the party’s heavy rucksacks ahead to their daily rendezvous point.
Mr Greene, who later became a World War II MI6 agent in West Africa, set out on his 1935 mission with a book contract and a more noble commission: to investigate the re-emergence of slavery in the two countries on behalf of the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society. Butcher speculates that this may be an act of restorative justice – the Greene family fortune had been made in slave-dependent sugar plantation in St Kitts – and this book is enormously informative on the history of slavery in the region, back to the 18th-century when the dominant Temne chiefs had no hesitation in selling the prisoners captured in inter-tribal wars to white outsiders.Sierra Leone’s origins lie in a plan cooked up in 1786 by the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor (whose strange bedfellows included genuine utopian idealists, racist proponents of repatriation in the Enoch Powell mode, and slave operators who viewed London’s freed slaves as potential sources of agitation that threatened their business).The Londoners were joined by former slaves who had fought with the British in the American War of Independence, and who had struggled with the climate of their post-war sanctuary in Nova Scotia, and with ‘recaptives’ -. Africans deposited there having been rescued from slaving ships by the Royal Navy as it patrolled to enforce William Wilberforce’s slaving ban The bankruptcy of this first venture to establish the Province of Freedom as a black-run state led to its annexation by the British as a full colony. Liberia, it feels counter-intuitive to say, was less fortunate.
It was the brainchild of the American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Color of the United State, a white-run operation of dubious intent – there are even suggestions that it kidnapped former slaves in America and forcibly transported them back across the Atlantic as a sort of ethnic cleansing. The number who travelled willingly was always small, and inevitably tensions grew between these transplanted coastal settlers who were encouraged to form an elite, and the indigenous inland peoples. Distressingly, once the settlement declared independence in 1847 – a century before this became the norm in the rest of the continent – evidence slowly gathered that the new rulers were turning the ‘country people’ into their vassals, and – in an act of ultimate betrayal – selling them overseas.
Built on rocky foundations, the recent history of both countries has been tragic, with military coups, civil wars, brutal inter-communal violence, child soldiers and regimes of terror founded on the lust for ‘blood diamonds’. As a journalist Butcher had covered these conflicts at considerable personal risk, and his knowledge shines through in the clarity with which he explains the political machinations of the brutally corrupt and incompetent regimes of Samuel Doe, Liberia’s first indigenous leader and his nemesis and erstwhile comrade Charles Taylor who also committed numerous atrocities when fomenting the earlier civil war in Sierra Leone. As he follows Greene’s trail he becomes increasingly intrigued by the dancing ‘devils’ associated with the secret bush society, the Poro. The devil he firsts sees, with its long grass skirt, carved mask, and whirling dervish routine, sounds a lot like the sort of theatrical spin on traditional culture indigenous peoples around the world stage to charm the shekels from the pockets of gullible Westerners, and Greene thought that the power of the Poro had waned. Butcher – way off the tourist trail - holds to its continuing power, and remembers fetish-worshipping combatants in the civil wars buying into this ancient spirituality by indulging in ritual cannibalism, to gain greater battle strength by eating their enemies. He advances sociological theories on the structures and atomisation of Liberian society that sustain this malign force. He also reminds us how these belief systems can leak into our own supposedly rational and largely secular lives, reminding us of ‘Adam’ the ritually-slaughtered victim of the ‘Thames Torso’ killing.
It was instructive to read this book while the UK was enduring its longest heatwave for more than a decade, though our constant gripes were provoked by temperatures 10C below those Butcher & Co routinely negotiated. Even as we moaned and fanned ourselves most of us spent much of the time in air conditioned offices, rather than trekking over the uneven jungle floor, burdened by daypacks and insects, sweltering under the canopy of trees, and on the look out for fearsome scorpions, psychopathic chimpanzees, and the constant throngs of night-time rats. As a tale of endurance it was remarkable, all the more so because he managed to find a couple of ancient tribesmen who had, as children, encountered the whisky-drinking, note-taking Greene party.
I closed the book inspired to read more Greene, not just those of the famous novels I have yet to read, but also to go back to the short stories, particularly The End of the Party which I remember haunting me when I first read it as a teenager because, largely brought up with male cousins, it reminded me of the party terrors of our inevitable birthday games of Murderers in the Dark. Are children really still encouraged to play this malevolent form of Hide and Seek? I also feel that I want to know more about spunky Barbara Greene. On return to Blighty she described the trek from her perspective in the book Land Benighted, much of which seems to be available on Google, though my aversion to reading on screen may mean that it’s better to track down a copy of its 1990s reissue as Too Late to Turn Back. As for Mr Butcher, it’s three years since the publication of Chasing the Devil. Time for a new adventure, please!
Butcher, former Chief War Correspondent and Africa Bureau Chief of The Daily Telegraph is clearly a glutton for punishment; after the hair-raising adventures in a thoroughly dysfunctional state described in the best-selling Blood River, he sets out again to recreate the dangerous and ambitious exploration of jungle trails through Sierra Leone and Liberia undertaken in 1935 by Graham Greene as detailed in Journey Without Maps. Greene was accompanied on his trek by his redoubtable cousin Barbara, a socialite who made the transition from the elegance of the literary salons of London to the suffocating heat of West Africa with considerable aplomb. This was thanks in part to their trek being accompanied by an entourage of 26 porters, three servants and a chef who each night set up their camp with the tin bath, pair of chairs and brace of beds (at which point I was irresistibly reminded of the well-travelled bedstead which had such a starring role in Lady Franklin’s Revenge). There were also hammocks to transport the pair when the going got especially rough – relied upon by Greene when he became perilously ill and it took Barbara’s stoicism and practical good sense to ensure his survival. After the trauma of reading about the terrifying risks and insane rigours of Butcher’s solo Congo trip it was a relief to find that this time he had his own retinue – David Poraj-Wilczynski, son of a former colleague and a recent Oxbridge graduate who’d been dabbling (without much enthusiasm) in banking; the irrepressible local overland guide Johnson Boie, a former refugee who had worked for aid organisations as a tracing officer, re-uniting war-torn families; and the self-contained Mr Omaru whose trusty Yamaha AG transports the party’s heavy rucksacks ahead to their daily rendezvous point.
Mr Greene, who later became a World War II MI6 agent in West Africa, set out on his 1935 mission with a book contract and a more noble commission: to investigate the re-emergence of slavery in the two countries on behalf of the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society. Butcher speculates that this may be an act of restorative justice – the Greene family fortune had been made in slave-dependent sugar plantation in St Kitts – and this book is enormously informative on the history of slavery in the region, back to the 18th-century when the dominant Temne chiefs had no hesitation in selling the prisoners captured in inter-tribal wars to white outsiders.Sierra Leone’s origins lie in a plan cooked up in 1786 by the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor (whose strange bedfellows included genuine utopian idealists, racist proponents of repatriation in the Enoch Powell mode, and slave operators who viewed London’s freed slaves as potential sources of agitation that threatened their business).The Londoners were joined by former slaves who had fought with the British in the American War of Independence, and who had struggled with the climate of their post-war sanctuary in Nova Scotia, and with ‘recaptives’ -. Africans deposited there having been rescued from slaving ships by the Royal Navy as it patrolled to enforce William Wilberforce’s slaving ban The bankruptcy of this first venture to establish the Province of Freedom as a black-run state led to its annexation by the British as a full colony. Liberia, it feels counter-intuitive to say, was less fortunate.
It was the brainchild of the American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Color of the United State, a white-run operation of dubious intent – there are even suggestions that it kidnapped former slaves in America and forcibly transported them back across the Atlantic as a sort of ethnic cleansing. The number who travelled willingly was always small, and inevitably tensions grew between these transplanted coastal settlers who were encouraged to form an elite, and the indigenous inland peoples. Distressingly, once the settlement declared independence in 1847 – a century before this became the norm in the rest of the continent – evidence slowly gathered that the new rulers were turning the ‘country people’ into their vassals, and – in an act of ultimate betrayal – selling them overseas.
Built on rocky foundations, the recent history of both countries has been tragic, with military coups, civil wars, brutal inter-communal violence, child soldiers and regimes of terror founded on the lust for ‘blood diamonds’. As a journalist Butcher had covered these conflicts at considerable personal risk, and his knowledge shines through in the clarity with which he explains the political machinations of the brutally corrupt and incompetent regimes of Samuel Doe, Liberia’s first indigenous leader and his nemesis and erstwhile comrade Charles Taylor who also committed numerous atrocities when fomenting the earlier civil war in Sierra Leone. As he follows Greene’s trail he becomes increasingly intrigued by the dancing ‘devils’ associated with the secret bush society, the Poro. The devil he firsts sees, with its long grass skirt, carved mask, and whirling dervish routine, sounds a lot like the sort of theatrical spin on traditional culture indigenous peoples around the world stage to charm the shekels from the pockets of gullible Westerners, and Greene thought that the power of the Poro had waned. Butcher – way off the tourist trail - holds to its continuing power, and remembers fetish-worshipping combatants in the civil wars buying into this ancient spirituality by indulging in ritual cannibalism, to gain greater battle strength by eating their enemies. He advances sociological theories on the structures and atomisation of Liberian society that sustain this malign force. He also reminds us how these belief systems can leak into our own supposedly rational and largely secular lives, reminding us of ‘Adam’ the ritually-slaughtered victim of the ‘Thames Torso’ killing.
It was instructive to read this book while the UK was enduring its longest heatwave for more than a decade, though our constant gripes were provoked by temperatures 10C below those Butcher & Co routinely negotiated. Even as we moaned and fanned ourselves most of us spent much of the time in air conditioned offices, rather than trekking over the uneven jungle floor, burdened by daypacks and insects, sweltering under the canopy of trees, and on the look out for fearsome scorpions, psychopathic chimpanzees, and the constant throngs of night-time rats. As a tale of endurance it was remarkable, all the more so because he managed to find a couple of ancient tribesmen who had, as children, encountered the whisky-drinking, note-taking Greene party.
I closed the book inspired to read more Greene, not just those of the famous novels I have yet to read, but also to go back to the short stories, particularly The End of the Party which I remember haunting me when I first read it as a teenager because, largely brought up with male cousins, it reminded me of the party terrors of our inevitable birthday games of Murderers in the Dark. Are children really still encouraged to play this malevolent form of Hide and Seek? I also feel that I want to know more about spunky Barbara Greene. On return to Blighty she described the trek from her perspective in the book Land Benighted, much of which seems to be available on Google, though my aversion to reading on screen may mean that it’s better to track down a copy of its 1990s reissue as Too Late to Turn Back. As for Mr Butcher, it’s three years since the publication of Chasing the Devil. Time for a new adventure, please!
January 25, 2014
Using Graham Greene's 1935 trek with his Cousin Barbara across Sierra Leone & Liberia as a reference point, Tim Butcher engages the same formula as he did in his previous book, Blood River, in which he re-traced the footsteps of VIctorian-era explorer Stanley's epic trip across the Congo. Blood River was a towering accomplishment of adventure travel writing that hooked me on the genre of African exploration and led me to seek out further detailed reading on the Congo and it's history, notably the mesmerizing King Leopold's Ghost.
Chasing the Devil once again hits the mark for Butcher. Combining a no-nonsense journalistic style with the best of travel writing and adventure storytelling, Butcher entertains with a mixture of anecdotes and historical and political insights into the West African countries of Sierra Leone & Liberia.
Butcher' Devils are a combination of bush village magic men, Ancient tribal spiritualism, frightening tropical diseases and blood diamonds to name but a few, but above all the scarred and haunting memories from decades of conflict spawned by generations of incompetence, waste and corruption. The author is on a quest to gain an understanding of the origins of the pure evil that gave rise to so much barbarism, ritualistic cruelty and Human suffering. In essence, he is seeking out West Africa's heart of darkness. Butcher's demons are also the memories of his Jornalist colleagues killed in the line of duty, whose tragic deaths he seeks some sort of closure for by gaining an understanding of the origins of the conflict which they died covering.
Graham Greene, in whose footsteps Butcher meticulously follows, feared boredom and mediocrity. Butcher's resulting work is certainly no mediocre travel book.
Chasing the Devil once again hits the mark for Butcher. Combining a no-nonsense journalistic style with the best of travel writing and adventure storytelling, Butcher entertains with a mixture of anecdotes and historical and political insights into the West African countries of Sierra Leone & Liberia.
Butcher' Devils are a combination of bush village magic men, Ancient tribal spiritualism, frightening tropical diseases and blood diamonds to name but a few, but above all the scarred and haunting memories from decades of conflict spawned by generations of incompetence, waste and corruption. The author is on a quest to gain an understanding of the origins of the pure evil that gave rise to so much barbarism, ritualistic cruelty and Human suffering. In essence, he is seeking out West Africa's heart of darkness. Butcher's demons are also the memories of his Jornalist colleagues killed in the line of duty, whose tragic deaths he seeks some sort of closure for by gaining an understanding of the origins of the conflict which they died covering.
Graham Greene, in whose footsteps Butcher meticulously follows, feared boredom and mediocrity. Butcher's resulting work is certainly no mediocre travel book.
June 17, 2018
Following faithfully in the footsteps of Graham Greene and his cousin as they embark at Sierra Leone in 1935 before setting off on a 4-week walk through Liberia and Guinea, Butcher and his companions David, Johnson and Mr Omaru likewise take on the West African jungle interior, travelling by foot through this much maligned and worn torn part of the world.
Using Greene's book of the trip, Journey Without Maps, and other exhaustively researched material, Butcher does an amazing job of providing the reader with a potted history lesson, both of the countries which he travels through and of Greene's journey. The real skill is that he also strikes a perfect balance paralleling his own journey, also imparting additional information from previous trips spent here whilst reporting on one of West Africa's most brutal wars.
Butcher's journey is a brave one, both in terms of the distance covered on foot (c. 350 miles) and the potential dangers faced, both from humans and non-humans. Butcher's easy-to-read style provides us with exposure to one of the least travelled regions on the globe and whilst not overly imbued with hope for the two countries he spends most of his time in, we are nonetheless left with a desire to possibly checking it out for ourselves one day.
Definitely one to read for anyone interested in West Africa, the civil wars that took place here, or anybody simply looking for good travel writing.
Using Greene's book of the trip, Journey Without Maps, and other exhaustively researched material, Butcher does an amazing job of providing the reader with a potted history lesson, both of the countries which he travels through and of Greene's journey. The real skill is that he also strikes a perfect balance paralleling his own journey, also imparting additional information from previous trips spent here whilst reporting on one of West Africa's most brutal wars.
Butcher's journey is a brave one, both in terms of the distance covered on foot (c. 350 miles) and the potential dangers faced, both from humans and non-humans. Butcher's easy-to-read style provides us with exposure to one of the least travelled regions on the globe and whilst not overly imbued with hope for the two countries he spends most of his time in, we are nonetheless left with a desire to possibly checking it out for ourselves one day.
Definitely one to read for anyone interested in West Africa, the civil wars that took place here, or anybody simply looking for good travel writing.
January 11, 2023
3.5 to 4 stars
January 18, 2021
If you love adventure travel and history, you must read Tim Butcher's books. I thoroughly enjoyed this book about adventure travel in Liberia, as well as an excellent background on the history of Sierra Leone and Liberia and the English writer Graham Greene.
September 19, 2024
Once again the author really takes you with him on the journey. I learned a huge amount about countries I had only read about in the news. I am pleased the Devil wasn’t ever really found, but it was fascinating how the devil was always around . Great read as expected.
November 27, 2018
I read this book having previously ( a few years back) read Blood River – which may or may not have been the author’s ‘break-through book’. Unlike its predecessor, which I thought was great, this one didn’t have the same impact on me. Broadly speaking, it’s (mostly) a foot safari through some of Africa’s grimmest landscapes, notably Sierra Leone on into Liberia. One does learn a fair bit about each of the countries and the horrible recent history they have had, but it does not seem for me to have the same impact as his book about the Congo.
After he finally manages to get over toward the Eastern border of Sierra Leone he starts to walk, retracing a route taken by the author Graham Greene with his cousin in the mid 1930s. After a while (not sure why) I started to find this ‘and then Greene came to the village of XXX which has hardly changed since then’ narrative irritating. The sub-plot about how the whole hinterland of West Africa is populated in villages by shamen and ‘devils’ was a bit more interesting, but as a book it never really lifted off for me.
In fairness, it is (I expect) accurate, a detailed account of a journey more or less ‘off the map’, and illustrating the reality that there is no law at times beyond a man with a gun. But I think it’s too much of a re-tread of the recommended Blood River to fully engage me.
After he finally manages to get over toward the Eastern border of Sierra Leone he starts to walk, retracing a route taken by the author Graham Greene with his cousin in the mid 1930s. After a while (not sure why) I started to find this ‘and then Greene came to the village of XXX which has hardly changed since then’ narrative irritating. The sub-plot about how the whole hinterland of West Africa is populated in villages by shamen and ‘devils’ was a bit more interesting, but as a book it never really lifted off for me.
In fairness, it is (I expect) accurate, a detailed account of a journey more or less ‘off the map’, and illustrating the reality that there is no law at times beyond a man with a gun. But I think it’s too much of a re-tread of the recommended Blood River to fully engage me.
May 24, 2015
I enjoyed this book. Compared to Blood River it didn't have as many "amazing" revelations, but if you've ever wondered about these countries and the lives of the people there, their recent history, and their efforts to move past all of this, this book provides that.
October 17, 2017
If it wasn't the least promising expedition into uncharted territory ever attempted, it must have been close. In 1934, a sickly-looking Englishman light-heartedly asked his socialite cousin to join him on an expedition to Liberia, which was one of the few parts of Africa yet to be surveyed. It was at a wedding reception and later, they would both admit that the champagne had something to do with both his invitation and her acceptance of it.
The socialite cousin was 27-year-old Barbara Greene. The sicky-looking Englishman was Graham Greene. At 30, Greene had yet to achieve the fame he enjoyed in later life, although he had already written Brighton Rock and several other novels, and been sued for libel by a nine-year-old Shirley Temple after he described her as being disturbingly desirable to 'middle-aged men and clergymen'.
Neither of them had ever set foot in Africa, but a year later saw them hiking through Liberia on foot, and occasionally carried on hammocks. It was very much a colonial era expedition, with an army of bearers and hampers from Fortnum and Mason, but it was still a remarkable logistical achievement for two people who had never attempted anything like it before. Graham Greene nearly died of a fever before they reached the capital of Monrovia, but reach it they did.
In 2009, Tim Butcher followed their route, by road through Sierra Leone and on foot through Liberia. Chasing the Devil is his account of his much smaller expedition, carried out with three companions and no hammocks. Unlike the Greenes, Butcher had spent a substantial amount of time in Africa as a correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, including covering the bloody civil wars in both countries during the 1990s and 2000s. He describes countries still reeling from those wars, and his memoir includes many conversations with people whose lives, and often bodies, were torn apart in ways that will never heal.
Butcher says far more about the land and its people than Graham Greene did in his own memoir, Journey without Maps, which gives little detail on anything other than his state of mind. Most of Greene’s description of other people consists of disparaging descriptions of colonial society and missionaries, while neither his bearers nor his cousin are even named. It's strangely lacking in detail from one of the most accomplished writers of the 20th century, and Butcher's entwining of his own expedition with his findings on Greene's filled in some blanks that have bothered me since I read it.
I have yet to read Barbara Greene's account, Too Late to Turn Back, though the excerpts I've read here and elsewhere look as though she gave much more attention to the people and places than her more famous cousin did.
Nevertheless, Butcher's account did not answer what, for me, was the biggest question unanswered by Journey Without Maps. The Greenes' expedition had an objective beyond simply traipsing through Liberia: the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines' Protection Society (now Anti-Slavery International) had asked him to investigate reports of slavery in Liberia. Journey Without Maps makes no mention of the society's involvement, let alone whether he and Barbara found anything worth reporting. It's entirely possible that the day-to-day business of not getting lost or dying of malaria absorbed all their energy, and any investigation fell to the bottom of the priority list. It's not even certain that they would have recognised slavery if they saw it. For two people whose experience didn't extend beyond England, normal life in Liberia would have appeared strange enough that they may not have been able to tell it from abnormality.
Presumably they impressed someone because Graham Greene was later recruited by MI6, the British intelligence service, who sent him to Sierra Leone. Quite what he did there is another mystery; his memoir Ways of Escape talks more about his ongoing spat with his superior officer in Nigeria than any actual spying. A senior MI6 agent, Nicholas Elliott, described arriving in Freetown to have Greene ask him to supply condoms for the travelling brothel he was using to extract information from lonely merchant sailors, suggesting he at least tried to spy on someone.
If Chasing the Devil throws little light on the mysteries and idiosyncrasies of Graham Greene's life, it did take me on not one but two journeys, seven decades apart and for that, it was well worth the read.
The socialite cousin was 27-year-old Barbara Greene. The sicky-looking Englishman was Graham Greene. At 30, Greene had yet to achieve the fame he enjoyed in later life, although he had already written Brighton Rock and several other novels, and been sued for libel by a nine-year-old Shirley Temple after he described her as being disturbingly desirable to 'middle-aged men and clergymen'.
Neither of them had ever set foot in Africa, but a year later saw them hiking through Liberia on foot, and occasionally carried on hammocks. It was very much a colonial era expedition, with an army of bearers and hampers from Fortnum and Mason, but it was still a remarkable logistical achievement for two people who had never attempted anything like it before. Graham Greene nearly died of a fever before they reached the capital of Monrovia, but reach it they did.
In 2009, Tim Butcher followed their route, by road through Sierra Leone and on foot through Liberia. Chasing the Devil is his account of his much smaller expedition, carried out with three companions and no hammocks. Unlike the Greenes, Butcher had spent a substantial amount of time in Africa as a correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, including covering the bloody civil wars in both countries during the 1990s and 2000s. He describes countries still reeling from those wars, and his memoir includes many conversations with people whose lives, and often bodies, were torn apart in ways that will never heal.
Butcher says far more about the land and its people than Graham Greene did in his own memoir, Journey without Maps, which gives little detail on anything other than his state of mind. Most of Greene’s description of other people consists of disparaging descriptions of colonial society and missionaries, while neither his bearers nor his cousin are even named. It's strangely lacking in detail from one of the most accomplished writers of the 20th century, and Butcher's entwining of his own expedition with his findings on Greene's filled in some blanks that have bothered me since I read it.
I have yet to read Barbara Greene's account, Too Late to Turn Back, though the excerpts I've read here and elsewhere look as though she gave much more attention to the people and places than her more famous cousin did.
Nevertheless, Butcher's account did not answer what, for me, was the biggest question unanswered by Journey Without Maps. The Greenes' expedition had an objective beyond simply traipsing through Liberia: the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines' Protection Society (now Anti-Slavery International) had asked him to investigate reports of slavery in Liberia. Journey Without Maps makes no mention of the society's involvement, let alone whether he and Barbara found anything worth reporting. It's entirely possible that the day-to-day business of not getting lost or dying of malaria absorbed all their energy, and any investigation fell to the bottom of the priority list. It's not even certain that they would have recognised slavery if they saw it. For two people whose experience didn't extend beyond England, normal life in Liberia would have appeared strange enough that they may not have been able to tell it from abnormality.
Presumably they impressed someone because Graham Greene was later recruited by MI6, the British intelligence service, who sent him to Sierra Leone. Quite what he did there is another mystery; his memoir Ways of Escape talks more about his ongoing spat with his superior officer in Nigeria than any actual spying. A senior MI6 agent, Nicholas Elliott, described arriving in Freetown to have Greene ask him to supply condoms for the travelling brothel he was using to extract information from lonely merchant sailors, suggesting he at least tried to spy on someone.
If Chasing the Devil throws little light on the mysteries and idiosyncrasies of Graham Greene's life, it did take me on not one but two journeys, seven decades apart and for that, it was well worth the read.
March 25, 2018
In the vein of the author's previous work [1], this book is a deeply melancholy and realistically pessimistic travel book that is based at least in part on literature, this time Graham Greene's travel experiences with his cousin Barbara journeying without maps through Liberia. In these pages the author along with a travel companion travel by foot through Liberia, visit Sierra Leone and part of Guinea [2] and witness a great deal of what ails this part of Western Africa, from out of touch elites in distant capitals living far beyond the expectations and realistic hopes of divided tribes in the hinterlands to the malign influence of collectivist brutal traditional religions that have no compunctions about demanding that leaders sacrifice their own children or in killing or brutalizing people with no respect for individual human right, along with the usual corruption and the failure of law and order to provide a just social order and the opportunity for advancement for the suffering people of their societies. This is not the sort of book that one reads for optimism, but it does provide a clear-eyed and humane look at a part of the world is that is remembered, if at all, for its idealistic hopes, and its violence and plagues of disease.
This book takes about 300 pages or so to cover twelve chapters dealing with an epic travel of high degrees of danger and intrigue. The author, as an international reporter whose beat was to cover Africa, had written some pessimistic but accurate comments about the regime of Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, and the result was some death threats that had left him understandably a bit skittish. Ultimately, though, his curiosity in how Sierra Leone and Liberia were coping with the aftermath of bloody civil wars that had brought their countries to ruin, and where their nearby Guinea had also had a rare coup with potentially threatening results on its own relative stability, led the author to undertake a trip from Freetown to the border of Liberia where he and three others would follow the trail that the Greenes took in the 1930's to undertake a sub rosa investigation of slavery in Liberia on behalf of British antislavery interests that may hve proven to be a suitable introduction to espionage in Africa that would mark Greene's later career during WWII and that would give his cousin Barbara the courage to deal with her own dramatic World War II experience. Throughout the course of the journey we see through the author's eyes (and camera) the worth of his local travel companions Johnson Boie, Mr. Omaru, and the humanity of the people they encounter along the way.
The insights of the journey are complex and often deeply troubling. The author witnesses people who simply cannot comprehend that a crazy Westerner would want to travel by foot through their communities without some sort of dark ulterior motive, dark evidence of the reputation of Westerners for exploitation. He sees the malign influence of traditional religions on the well-being of people who can easily thrive when in well-function societies that provide stability as well as the potential for growth and development. Some of the lessons are worthwhile for the book's likely audience of literate and cosmopolitan Westerners, though. For example, the author reflects on the humanity of the Greenes and the way that they were colored by their own backgrounds and their own expectations and their own frailties in what they wrote and what they thought about each other and the places they saw in their travels. Likewise, when the author comments about the fragility of the comfort of elites in the face of massive divides in society between a few haves and many more have nots, the author points to the sort of poisonous envy and resentment that rest in many societies that can easily erupt in violence that makes it impossible for anyone to have a good life without choosing a life of exile to a place where thriving is possible.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
[2] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2013...
This book takes about 300 pages or so to cover twelve chapters dealing with an epic travel of high degrees of danger and intrigue. The author, as an international reporter whose beat was to cover Africa, had written some pessimistic but accurate comments about the regime of Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, and the result was some death threats that had left him understandably a bit skittish. Ultimately, though, his curiosity in how Sierra Leone and Liberia were coping with the aftermath of bloody civil wars that had brought their countries to ruin, and where their nearby Guinea had also had a rare coup with potentially threatening results on its own relative stability, led the author to undertake a trip from Freetown to the border of Liberia where he and three others would follow the trail that the Greenes took in the 1930's to undertake a sub rosa investigation of slavery in Liberia on behalf of British antislavery interests that may hve proven to be a suitable introduction to espionage in Africa that would mark Greene's later career during WWII and that would give his cousin Barbara the courage to deal with her own dramatic World War II experience. Throughout the course of the journey we see through the author's eyes (and camera) the worth of his local travel companions Johnson Boie, Mr. Omaru, and the humanity of the people they encounter along the way.
The insights of the journey are complex and often deeply troubling. The author witnesses people who simply cannot comprehend that a crazy Westerner would want to travel by foot through their communities without some sort of dark ulterior motive, dark evidence of the reputation of Westerners for exploitation. He sees the malign influence of traditional religions on the well-being of people who can easily thrive when in well-function societies that provide stability as well as the potential for growth and development. Some of the lessons are worthwhile for the book's likely audience of literate and cosmopolitan Westerners, though. For example, the author reflects on the humanity of the Greenes and the way that they were colored by their own backgrounds and their own expectations and their own frailties in what they wrote and what they thought about each other and the places they saw in their travels. Likewise, when the author comments about the fragility of the comfort of elites in the face of massive divides in society between a few haves and many more have nots, the author points to the sort of poisonous envy and resentment that rest in many societies that can easily erupt in violence that makes it impossible for anyone to have a good life without choosing a life of exile to a place where thriving is possible.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
[2] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2013...
July 26, 2020
Following his debut travel book, Blood River, which saw him cross the Congo in H.M. Stanley's footsteps, Tim Butcher this time follows Graham Greene's (and his cousin Barbara's) footsteps in travelling through Sierra Leone and Liberia (with a short foray into Guinea thrown in). For those of us old enough to remember the wars that plagued both countries, images of the atrocities that took place will forever remain fresh. The author had first hand experience of this as he worked as a reporter for The Telegraph during the conflicts.
As with Blood River, the book is not just an amazing journey, which in itself is an incredible show of stamina and determination, but it is also a well researched one. Tim Butcher regales us with various accounts of what happened during the wars and also with a lot of history the countries. These nuggets of information are always excellently placed in the narrative and help give a lot of context to what one is reading.
It is another fascinating journey into Africa. It is interesting to read first hand what the author came across and to judge what progress had been made since the dark days that dominated the end of the last century and the beginning of the current one. There are stories of hope and progress but a lot of the challenges that the people still face are also mapped out.
A must read for those who love travel writing in its purest form and also for those who are intrigued by Africa and its history.
As with Blood River, the book is not just an amazing journey, which in itself is an incredible show of stamina and determination, but it is also a well researched one. Tim Butcher regales us with various accounts of what happened during the wars and also with a lot of history the countries. These nuggets of information are always excellently placed in the narrative and help give a lot of context to what one is reading.
It is another fascinating journey into Africa. It is interesting to read first hand what the author came across and to judge what progress had been made since the dark days that dominated the end of the last century and the beginning of the current one. There are stories of hope and progress but a lot of the challenges that the people still face are also mapped out.
A must read for those who love travel writing in its purest form and also for those who are intrigued by Africa and its history.
March 8, 2020
Some parts of the world are largely ignored and West Africa is surely among them. Here is an intriguing tale as the author re-traces Graham and Barbra Greene's journey through Sierra Leone and Liberia. Like his previous book on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the text is full of interesting details on local traditions/life and enough politics to be insightful without preaching too much. A common theme is the honesty and integrity of individual local Africans contrasted with the back-drop of widespread corruption and violence from both local and foreign powers. Perhaps my only criticism would be the choice of title, which feels a bit sensationalist, but the text itself adopts a balanced and sincere tone, and provides a thought provoking read.
August 25, 2018
If you're thinking of going to Africa and curious about where not to go, you owe it to yourself to pick up a few tips from Tim Butcher. In Blood River he follows in the footsteps of Henry Morton Stanley in his trek through the Congo. This time he's traipsing through Liberia and Sierra Leone, following the journey of Graham Greene. Butcher has a keen eye, and his observations, both historical and present-day are fascinating, educational and entertaining, and occasionally horrifying. If you've any curiosity as to why Africa is often referred to as the Dark Continent this is another fine read.
September 19, 2020
A decent, simple history and analysis of Liberia and Sierra Leone. From the countries creation to Graham Greene’s adventure across them, then to the devastating wars that plagued the two countries in the 90’s and 80’s to the modern day consequences and reconstruction efforts. Butcher provided a perfect blend of history, his personal travel experiences, and the experiences of others, past and present. This gives even further insight into a region many are uneducated and ignorant about.
After reading Blood River, I was keen to start this one. Chasing the Devil definitely didn’t disappoint. I thought this book provided a more in depth description of Butcher’s personal life, especially relating to Africa and his previous job with the Telegraph. He goes into stories, some heartbreaking to read and I imagine hard to write, of past and current friends in Journalism and their experiences in the region.
I definitely recommend this book for anyone not familiar with West African history and the historical novels and texts related to the region. Along with history, this book is great for beginning to gain and understanding of rural and city people living in these countries, the hardships they faced and still do, and how they’re various beliefs and communities affect everything in the region.
Thanks for the good reads Tim.
After reading Blood River, I was keen to start this one. Chasing the Devil definitely didn’t disappoint. I thought this book provided a more in depth description of Butcher’s personal life, especially relating to Africa and his previous job with the Telegraph. He goes into stories, some heartbreaking to read and I imagine hard to write, of past and current friends in Journalism and their experiences in the region.
I definitely recommend this book for anyone not familiar with West African history and the historical novels and texts related to the region. Along with history, this book is great for beginning to gain and understanding of rural and city people living in these countries, the hardships they faced and still do, and how they’re various beliefs and communities affect everything in the region.
Thanks for the good reads Tim.
October 11, 2017
This is the third of Tim Butchers book I have read and thoroughly enjoyed. This time he takes Graham Greene’s journey thru Sierra Levine and Liberia the 1930’s as his framework for another fascinating journey. I continue to love the style and structure, combining travelogue, political commentary, history and story telling. Beautifully written. Hope there is more to come!
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