Introduction: The RUF (Revolutionary United Front) phenomenon -- Sierra Leone: From independence to state recession -- The making of the Revolutionary United Front -- War and state collapse -- Not just a coup: The AFRC (Armed Forces Revolutionary Council) takeover of 1997 -- 'Operation No Living Thing' and terror as warfare -- From 'U-Nasty' to 'model peacekeeping' -- Diamonds and the RUF's war -- Epilogue: The reckoning.