Sierra Leone is another African country that has had more than its share of troubles. Many of these were not even its fault. There were more than enough causes of friction; the country began as a colony, West Africa, like neighboring Liberia, to receive liberated Africans and freed slaves and evolved into a British protectorate that reached much farther inland and included a variety of ethnic groups, some in conflict with others. Still, Sierra Leone got off to a reasonable start politically and economically, despite differences within the elite, punctuated by military intervention. The worst troubles, however, resulted from the spread of Liberia’s civil wars into its neighbor, Sierra Leone. It took intervention by an African military force dominated by Nigeria to sort that out and to restore a tenuous peace. Now Sierra Leone has another chance, and with considerable effort and luck may fulfill some of its earlier promise. That is, at any rate, what the Sierra Leoneans and their friends hope. Much of this historical review of the country will be complicated and inexplicable to outsiders. Indeed, many Sierra Leoneans cannot grasp what has happened either. The causes and explanations—at least some of them—only become clearer with a rather long view, such as that provided by this Historical Dictionary of Sierra Leone. It traces the history of the region from earlier times through colonial rule and into independence, through somewhat happier times into troubled times, and finally until the present. The course of events can be followed most simply through the chronology, and the explanations begin to fall into place with the introduction. But the core of the book is a compilation of several hundred entries in the dictionary concerning crucial events, ethnic groups, movements, political parties, and especially persons—persons whose actions and influence strongly impacted events. This study includes a bibliography, listing many sources that can shed further light on specific aspects and features of the country and its history. This is the second historical dictionary on Sierra Leone, the first having been written by Cyril Patrick Foray and published in 1977. That is more than 25 years ago, an exceptionally long time for books in this series. But it would have been hard to know exactly what was going on in Sierra Leone for the past decade or so. And it would have been even harder to find someone who could present it cogently. This meant it was necessary to wait until the right author could be found, ultimately in the person of C. Magbaily Fyle. Dr. Fyle knows Sierra Leone far better than most, having been born and educated in the country, having taught history at Fourah Bay College, and having also served as dean of the Faculty of Arts and university public orator. In addition, Dr. Fyle was a member of many boards and was a nonexecutive director of the Central Bank of Sierra Leone. Since 1991, C. Magbaily Fyle has been a professor in the African American and African Studies Department of Ohio State University. However, it takes more than knowing; it is also necessary to convey this information, something he has been doing for decades as the author of numerous articles and eight books, including The History of Sierra Leone: A Concise Introduction. This entirely new volume brings the story up to date for the many readers who want to know what happened and begin to understand why.