THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK
Bearing Witness to the Genocide in Darfur
BRIAN STEIDLE WITH GRETCHEN STEIDLE WALLACE
Available March 26, 2007
SUMMARY
This intense, vivid report and call to action from the heart of violent Darfur, by a former Marine working as an unarmed military observer for the African Union, is a powerful memoir of a young man's awakening to conscience and the first extensive on-theground account of the genocide in Sudan.
Former United States Marine Brian Steidle served for six months in Darfur as an unarmed military observer for the African Union. There he witnessed first-hand the ongoing genocide, and documented every day of his experience using email, audio journals, notebook after notebook and nearly 1,000 photographs. Gretchen Steidle Wallace, his sister, who wrote this book with Brian, corresponded with him throughout his time in Darfur. Fired upon, taken hostage, a witness to villages destroyed and people killed, frustrated by his mission's limitations and the international community's reluctance to intervene, Steidle resigned and has since become an advocate for the world to step in and stop this genocide. The Devil Came on Horseback depicts the tragic impact of an Arab government bent on destroying its black African citizens, the maddening complexity of international inaction in response to blatant genocide, and the awkward, yet heroic transformation of a formerMarine turned humanitarian. It is a gripping and moving memoir that bears witness to atrocities we have too long averted our eyes from, and reveals that the actions of just one committed person have the power to change the world. Brian Steidle, a former Captain in the Marine Corps, worked for the African Union where he served in Darfur. He has made several return trips to Africa and now gives lectures across the country, including Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and UCLA, about Darfur. Gretchen Steidle Wallace, Brian's sister and the founder of Global Grassroots, has a BA in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth College. They live in New Hampshire.
EXCERPT
As I stood in the village of Alliet, I thought back to where I had been a year ago. I had just completed my term of service for the U.S. Marines, during which I'd served time under NATO's mission in Kosovo policing villages and prohibiting arms trafficking from Macedonia. After leaving the Marines, I was still eager to be involved somewhere in the field, using my military background. I thought it a miracle when I was recruited for my position in Sudan—it just didn't seem possible I could get paid six figures to hang out in an exotic part of Africa, drive Landcruisers around in the desert and, as a civilian contractor, advise a military operation. I accepted the mission with enthusiasm. Though I knew there would be conflict, I never expected to see or experience what I was now witnessing here in Darfur. American forces are trained to avoid civilian casualties at all cost. And here in front of my eyes, civilians—children and women— were being specifically targeted by the Government of Sudan. I could in no way reconcile or justify what had apparently happened here. The wickedness of the government's activities began crawling through my conscience.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
A Note from BRIAN STEIDLE
I am telling the stories of the Sudanese people because it seems unthinkable not to. While in Darfur I witnessed villages of up to 20,000 people torched to ashes, men castrated and left to bleed to death, innocent families locked inside burning huts, children shackled and tortured, young girls gang-raped, fields of bones and executed corpses. I felt I had to expose these unmentionable atrocities to the American public. The conflict still rages in Darfur and our leaders, despite calling it genocide, have yet to step in to prevent further violence. I want people to feel compelled to take action to end this conflict and do whatever necessary to prevent future conflicts like this from happening. I want people to care about Africa. The events that I witnessed must be made public both for the sake of each Darfurian still struggling to survive and in honor of the millions who have perished under acts of genocide while the world remained cowardly and silent.
QUOTES
"This impassioned memoir is a cry of conscience and an informative, if politically and historically limited, analysis by a former U.S. Marine... Steidle's personal and fluent account effectively channels an idealistic, adventuresome young man's growing frustration and horror in the face of ongoing crimes against humanity and international complacency." --Publishers Weekly
“The Devil Came on Horseback grabs you by the throat and won’t let go. Brian Steidle’s vivid, compelling account of the on-going genocide in Darfur bears stark witness to the worst humanitarian crisis facing the world today. It pulls no punches as it begs the question: how can we sit idly by while thousands of innocent people continue to die? If you are at all concerned about your fellow man, The Devil Came on Horseback is not only a haunting must read; it is a call to action.” --David Freed, former Los Angeles Times reporter
"The Devil Came on Horseback grabs the reader from page one, then takes us on a journey of Conradian intensity through a circle of hell, its horrors mitigated by moments of humanity amidst a tragedy in which we are all accessories. In every sense, the devil is indeed in the details."--Karl E. Meyer, editor, World Policy Journal, author of The Dust of Empire and co-author with Shareen Blair Brysac of Tournament of Shadows.
