The reminiscences of an anthropologist revisiting the site of his fieldwork from the 1970s

In 2002, as Sierra Leone prepared to announce the end of its brutal civil war, the distinguished anthropologist, poet, and novelist Michael Jackson returned to the country where he had intermittently lived and worked as an ethnographer since 1969. While his initial concern was to help his old friend Sewa Bockarie (S. B.) Marah—a prominent figure in Sierra Leonean politics—write his autobiography, Jackson’s experiences during his stay led him to create a more complex work: In Sierra Leone, a beautifully rendered mosaic integrating S. B.’s moving stories with personal reflections, ethnographic digressions, and meditations on history and violence.

Though the Revolutionary United Front (R.U.F.) ostensibly fought its war (1991–2002) against corrupt government, the people of Sierra Leone were its victims. By the time the war was over, more than fifty thousand were dead, thousands more had been maimed, and over one million were displaced. Jackson relates the stories of political leaders and ordinary people trying to salvage their lives and livelihoods in the aftermath of cataclysmic violence. Combining these with his own knowledge of African folklore, history, and politics and with S. B.’s bittersweet memories—of his family’s rich heritage, his imprisonment as a political detainee, and his position in several of Sierra Leone’s post-independence governments—Jackson has created a work of elegiac, literary, and philosophical power.

"“Jackson’s existential-phenomenological anthropology is of great inspiration to me, a source that never goes dry. And In Sierra Leone is perhaps ethnography at its best; it is specific but still encourages comparison and contemplation on the human condition…”" - American Ethnologist

"In Sierra Leone succeeds in throwing light on the rebellion. . . . Drawing on his experience before the war and supplementing it with post-war interviews, Jackson helps us understand those who took to violence." - TLS

"[A] melancholic, reflective and informed work that will fascinate readers wishing to learn more about West African politics and people." - Publishers Weekly

"A powerful reaffirmation of Sierra Leonean social resilience. . . . Jackson's lyrical passages also speak to the complex resilience of the human spirit. . . . He has written a book that transforms a complex and violent world into an inspiringly evocative painting." - Anthropological Quarterly

"Compelling. . . . Offering arresting details of the life and times of a classic African 'big man' and illuminating the nature of postcolonial politics in Sierra Leone." - Foreign Affairs

"The book brilliantly evokes the sights, sounds, smells, and feel of West Africa along with the emotions and ambivalences that come with long-term relationships with people there. . . . This is a work of overwhelming honesty that can be read and appreciated on many levels." - International Journal of African Historical Studies