Peacekeeping in Sierra Leone : The story of UNAMSIL Funmi Olonisakin […] This book is centered on a brutal civil war that shocked people around the world and a UN peace operation that served as both the catalyst and the testing ground for significant changes in UN peacekeeping. But the book is not intended to provide an explanation of the war nor an analytical study of the lessons learned for the UN. Instead, we seek to fill a gap in the literature by telling the inside story of the UN's engagement with the Sierra Leone conflict, from the first appointment of a Special Envoy in 1995 to the launch of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) in 2000 and its withdrawal five years later. This is a story of gradually depending engagement in Sierra Leone conflict, spurred on by various factors including Security council commitment, changing regional dynamics, and a desire to restore the UN's credibility following one of the worst humiliations in its history, when several hundred UN blue helmets were taken hostage by Revolutionary United Front forces in May 2000. By providing the real context behind UN decisions, from resolutions of the Security Council in New York to the day-to-day crisis management tasks of the mission leadership in Freetown, the book enhances our understanding of the UN's work in countries like Sierra Leone. […]