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OverviewAfrica has been described as 'the hopeless continent' and Sierra Leone's recent history provides a vivid picture of this tragedy. Sierra Leone has witnessed a slide into anarchy and in large areas the government is powerless, with control in the hands of rebel gangs, some belonging to the Revolutionary United Front, while neighbouring states jockey for position and intrigue for influence. After years of civil war, violent changes in government, death, mutilation and destruction of property - extreme suffering by so many ordinary people - such order as exists is maintained by 11,000 United Nations troops, a battalion of British soldiers and a substantial Royal Navy force with marines. Apart from its own military costs, Britain as the former colonial power has poured in £60 million to help shore up the government. Renewed attention has been drawn to the problems of Sierra Leone by the visit of the British Prime Minister Tony Blair to the country in early February 2002 during a West African visit intended to highlight the African crisis in general and the dilemmas of Sierra Leone in particular. The diamond trade, especially its illicit variety, lies at the root of the problem, which began to emerge when Sierra Leone was still a British colony. Harry Mitchell shows how the colonial government tried to control the trade and harness the wealth it generated to the territory's advantage, and to limit its effect on other aspects of economic and social life. He gives a vivid account of the British Colonial administration in the twilight of Empire. He describes the daily round of a District Commissioner: sitting as a magistrate to preserve law and order; working with the District Councils and native administrations; maintaining relationships with all strata of society from Paramount Chiefs to peasants; and organising local elections at all levels to the House of Representatives - Sierra Leone's first elected parliament. Harry Mitchell and his colleagues were fearful of the fate of Sierra Leone as an independent nation despite the stability and calm at independence and, while offering no blueprint for the salvation of Africa, he suggests that a formula might be devised to bring in the United Nations as trustee for new African nations now in chaos. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Harry MitchellPublisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Imprint: Radcliffe Press Dimensions: Width: 13.40cm , Height: 2.60cm , Length: 21.60cm Weight: 0.467kg ISBN: 9781860648175ISBN 10: 1860648177 Pages: 267 Publication Date: 26 July 2002 Audience: General/trade , General Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In Print This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us. Table of ContentsReviews2004 African Affairs Journal: another plush Radcliffe Press offering. What makes the book stands out is the critical stance adopted by Mitchell when considering certain aspects of official policy. Author InformationHarry Mitchell served as an Administrative Officer in Sierra Leone from 1954-1959. He is now an immigration adjudicator hearing appeals against decisions from the Immigration and Nationality Department of the Home Office. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |