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The Devil Came on Horseback

About Me

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.

My Blog

Chapter One

Chapter 1 It was 8:00 p.m. on a Saturday night, January 24, 2004, and I had been traveling for nearly twenty-four hours. As our plane descended into Khartoum, dim lights outlined the city limits belo...
Posted by on Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:54:00 GMT

Prologue, Part 2

Today in Wash al Tool, October 20, 2004, I lost my hesitation...   What kind of person can aim a gun at a one-year-old child?   If I wanted to capture evidence for whatever future cause, I...
Posted by on Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:05:00 GMT

Prologue, Part 1

The rains had already moved on, leaving a dry, oppressive heat that threatened to bake any creature moving too slowly beneath the sun. It was about 115 degrees Fahrenheit. As I disembarked from our he...
Posted by on Mon, 25 Jun 2007 09:02:00 GMT

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 de...
Posted by on Tue, 05 Jun 2007 07:09:00 GMT