My attempts to understand Central African Republic (CAR) began in mid-2008, when I was preparing to deploy with United Nations MINURCAT mission. It soon became apparent that it was difficult to find information about the region – and even more difficult in English. Most accessible were reports from non-governmental organisations, which emphasised the misery of this ‘phantom state’ or ‘state in anarchy’. As a result, my initial understanding of the country was based on a number of unforgettable, if not bizarre events, such as the 1960 coup where the prime minister was replaced with the help of pygmies armed with poisoned arrows.

Both the difficulties to find information and the realities of MINURCAT underlined the marginalisation of CAR. As for many other actors, even for the peacekeeping operation CAR was little more than an afterthought. As this much needed volume underscores, this has been the lot of the country throughout its history. More often than not, CAR has become relevant for the wider international community only when a humanitarian crisis occurs. Yet despite the fact that it has been the target of numerous international interventions of various kinds, the country remains poorly understood.

This became blatantly obvious with the newest crisis, which first saw the predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels seize the capital of the majority Christian country in March 2013. The subsequent polarisation led to violence, and according to some, risked resulting in genocide along religious lines. When questions regarding the crisis began to be sought after by policymakers and media, there were preciously few who could provide sensible answers. Several of the 10 contributors, not least Lombard, played important roles in providing context during the conflict. This book continues the same important task.

The result is a unique and long-waited for volume that should be read by anyone involved with CAR, but which also comes with insights relevant far beyond Central Africa. This book makes at least three crucial contributions. The first contribution comes in the form of the individual chapters, which address the history, political economy, influence of regional and especially international actors, local elites and the newest scourge that has befallen the country, the Lord's Resistance Army. That the contributions form a good and coherent structure has likely benefited from several years of preparation.

The second contribution concerns the questioning of the prevailing pessimistic views on CAR. Most importantly, it is argued that what today appears as a state barely making it from one crisis to another was not inevitable. A sum of many factors, part of the responsibility lies with us in the form of previous failed interventions. It is hardly a controversial idea that the inability to make sense of CAR has hindered all previous efforts to improve the situation. Clearly this volume then fills an important gap.

The third contribution comes in the discussion of several topics significant even in contexts far removed from Central Africa, for instance religions' recent salience in defining identities in a way that at its extreme legitimises mass murder. Similar considerations concern the questions about who has the power and authority to decide what constitutes a crisis, as the recent #CAR crisis was framed as. Several chapters also come up with interesting theoretical insights relevant outside Central Africa, for instance by discussing how all-pervading poverty results in ‘spiritual insecurity’. Similarly, views of the state help to explain the current state of affairs in CAR, where Muslims are considered foreigners, and where wealth not accumulated through the state is viewed as illegitimate, if not outright criminal. This not only helps to nuance the discussion regarding religion and conflict, but also offers interesting comparisons with other contexts.

Yet here also lies the main criticism for the already commendable work: many of its chapters, especially those written by policy experts, say much about CAR, but engage few theories when doing so. While this may be taken as common critique for much of area studies and often waved off for good reasons, another critique arises from the way more recent history is discussed. While recent events were clearly the starting point for the whole book, surprisingly little is said, for instance, about the Seleka, or governance under the transitional president Catherine Samba-Panza (apart from the suggestion that it may have been little different from her predecessors). Hopefully this work can now help in future research on these events.

While CAR just underwent the second democratic elections of its history, this hardly means that its troubles are over. Almost half a million Central Africans are displaced following the recent violence. Almost half of them remain outside the borders of the country, which in turn is the third-poorest in terms of GDP per capita. As much as I would have found this volume useful close to a decade ago, I hope it will now contribute to improving the lives of Central Africans.