Chasing the Devil
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Review
"This adventurous book, in the footsteps of Graham Greene, in many ways goes deeper than Greene, and shows the enduring beauty and danger in Sierra Leone and Liberia"--Paul Theroux
"Intrepid traveller, Tim Butcher, dares to venture into Africa’s dark heart where he records, with perceptive eye and polished pen, the other world he finds there. If Africa interests you, then this book will fascinate you"--Wilbur Smith
"Amazing. As history, as anthropology, as a ripping yarn. Both exploration of an epic journey--and a hard yet sympathetic look at a Utopia-gone wrong"--Anthony Bourdain
"Butcher's research, combined with the inescapable fact that not a lot is widely known in the west about the place, makes for a fairly entertaining read as the author, his companion and two guides stay faithful to Greene's trek, hacking and plodding along this 350-mile path. This is a well-written account of an unusual adventure, even if the "killing fields" seem a long way away"--The Sunday Business Post
"Butcher's travelogue is a mix of nervous adventuring through a landscape littered with shell casings, and historical assessment peppered with Greeniana. Sobering and illuminating."--James Urquhart, Financial Times
"A multi-layered and thought-provoking account of the attractions of danger and his encounters with the devastation of ritual violence, child soldiers, blood diamonds and the "devil" guarding remote jungle communities."--Aimee Shalan, Guardian
"Intrepid traveller, Tim Butcher, dares to venture into Africa’s dark heart where he records, with perceptive eye and polished pen, the other world he finds there. If Africa interests you, then this book will fascinate you"--Wilbur Smith
"Amazing. As history, as anthropology, as a ripping yarn. Both exploration of an epic journey--and a hard yet sympathetic look at a Utopia-gone wrong"--Anthony Bourdain
"Butcher's research, combined with the inescapable fact that not a lot is widely known in the west about the place, makes for a fairly entertaining read as the author, his companion and two guides stay faithful to Greene's trek, hacking and plodding along this 350-mile path. This is a well-written account of an unusual adventure, even if the "killing fields" seem a long way away"--The Sunday Business Post
"Butcher's travelogue is a mix of nervous adventuring through a landscape littered with shell casings, and historical assessment peppered with Greeniana. Sobering and illuminating."--James Urquhart, Financial Times
"A multi-layered and thought-provoking account of the attractions of danger and his encounters with the devastation of ritual violence, child soldiers, blood diamonds and the "devil" guarding remote jungle communities."--Aimee Shalan, Guardian
Book Description
The bestselling author of Blood River is back with a second thrilling adventure, illuminating the war-torn, complex and forbidding region of Sierra Leone and Liberia
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Tim Butcher's latest book, Chasing the Devil: The Search for Africa's Fighting Spirit, paints an incredibly vivid and fascinating picture of a continent ravaged by war and violence. After reading his award-winning book Blood River, I couldn't wait to get my hands on Chasing the Devil. Just as Tim in 2004 followed H.M. Stanley's trail through the Congo for Blood River, for his new book, he follows a trail blazed by Graham Greene in 1935. The trek he documents in this book is both courageous and eye-opening. At a time when the world is being, once again, reminded of the atrocities of Charles Taylor's regime (thanks in huge part to Naomi Campbell sadly), Tim's book takes a look at two countries, Sierra Leone and Liberia, which after years of warfare have been left, in many rural places, lawless and unstable. Tim's account of his trip makes a brilliant read. He is an excellent writer and his years as a journalist covering foreign crises has made him a sympathetic and intelligent commentator. It is at once informative, funny and exciting, (the new light he throws on Graham Greene's trip is particulary interesting and often surprising). With his tales of Africa, you feel every blister, every prickle of fear and apprehension, and every feeling of personal achievement, as he embarks on a gruelling journey across two nations that not many of us would be brave enough to visit.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
I enjoyed 'Chasing the Devil' even more than Butcher's first African adventure, 'Blood River' - perhaps because he meets and writes about such an extraordinary cast of characters as he treks through Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, following a trail blazed in the 1930s by Graham Greene. My favourite has to be the indomitable, if not positively bonkers, Lady Dorothy Mills, who 90 years ago bashed her way through the Liberian jungle on a diet of bananas and foie gras. The survival story of Butcher's fellow war correspondent Yannis Behrakis during an ambush in Sierra Leone in 2000 is in equal parts heartbreaking and astonishing. And Butcher's own journey - chasing not just the folkloric devils in the African bush, but some of his own internal demons too - makes for a page-turning read.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
It's hard to believe that Tim Butcher could come up with a better idea for a book than his journey in the Congo described in Blood River, but in Chasing the Devil, he has managed to not only carry out an amazing trek across one of the most dangerous parts of Africa, but to explore his subject in a depth that I don't think he found in his first book. His trip across Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia not only follows in the footsteps of a trip made by Graham Green and his cousin, Barbara in 1935, it explores current day life, politics and social issues in those countries. Like Greene, Butcher explores the challenges that West Africa faces on foot, in the bush, hearing from a wide variety of people on topics as varied as secret tribal societies (whose leadership cloak themselves in devil costumes) to saving chimpanzees from extinction in war torn Sierra Leone. While Butcher's quest is both personal and dangerous, throughout it he uses his formidable journalistic skills to open up one of the darkest parts of Africa through the words and actions of the people who live there. Ultimately, what shines out from them is that in spite of living through evil times and in the presence of true devils, an essential goodness remains which is a blessing for Butcher travelling through the bush as he, like Blanche Dubois in Streetcar ,is daily reliant on the goodness of strangers to survive and complete his journey.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Chasing the Devil, but also explaining the ignored
Like Tim Butcher's previous "Blood River", "Chasing the Devil" sees the author trekking through Africa's rainforest and remote hinterlands. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Les Fearns
The Devil Escapes the Detail
Having just finished Blood River I graduated straight onto this book and wasn't disappointed. The author with a companion and two local guides trekked through three West African... Read more
Published 6 months ago by F Henwood
Boring hotchpotch of observations
One would assume that a book on a journey through Sierra Leone and Liberia would be a book on the actual journey; starting at the beginning of the journey and ending at the end of... Read more
Published 6 months ago by zoe4985
A cracking adventure
PRESTER JOHN
For obvious reasons there are very few books dealing with travel through Liberia and Sierra Leone, and after the news moved on following the conflicts of the 90's... Read more
For obvious reasons there are very few books dealing with travel through Liberia and Sierra Leone, and after the news moved on following the conflicts of the 90's... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Wayne Johnson
Best book I have read this year - brilliant.
If you have ever travelled off the beaten track in Africa and gone to areas where that little voice in the back of your mind tells you to get the hell outa there as paranoia... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Karl Knight
honest readable account
This seems a good honest book well worth reading in conjunction with Graham Greene's Journey Without Maps to increase the historical perspective.
Published 8 months ago by Mr. J. O. Myers
Chasing the Devil
Like many other reviewers I thoroughly enjoyed Tim Butcher's first book and was worried that that Chasing the Devil wouldn't live up to the high standard he'd set himself. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Gnasher
Ultimately a little dull
I have to agree with the reviewer who gave this 2 stars and I am also little puzzled by the number of 5 stars for this book. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mr. S. Burgess
Just as good
For the record, I was mightily impressed with Blood River and approached Chasing the Devil with the thought that it wouldn't reach the heights of the latter; however, Tim Butcher's... Read more
Published 9 months ago by High Peaker
Excellent
A great journey across two countries both affected by war by Tim Butcher into the heart of countries not explored since the end of the civil wars. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Christian
Listmania!
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