This publication is the product of a seminar entitled ‘Peace versus justice? Truth and reconciliation commissions and war crime tribunals in Africa’, held in Cape Town in May 2007. The point of departure is that the ‘peace versus justice dilemma has been grossly oversimplified’, and that ‘the pursuit of justice is not always an obstacle to peacemaking’ (p. 4). In the subsequent chapters the various mechanisms – mainly truth commissions and tribunals, but also healing ceremonies – that have been used to pursue peace, reconciliation and justice in Africa are examined. The book is divided into five sections with the following themes: peace and justice in Africa; truth and reconciliation processes (which covers South Africa, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria and Mozambique); war crime tribunals (Sierra Leone and Rwanda); indigenous justice (Mozambique and Rwanda); and the ICC (Darfur, Uganda and the DRC).

A number of the authors are former members of truth commissions and similar bodies, such as Yasmin Sooka, Alex Boraine, Charles Villa-Vicencio, Matthew Kukah and Dumisa Ntsebeza. One of the claims made in the Introduction is that their inclusion creates the opportunity for an important contribution to the transitional justice/peace versus justice debate, by providing ‘insider analysis’ and the chance to respond to ‘armchair critics’ (p. 8). In this the book largely fails, since the majority of these insiders merely relate well-known information on how the various commissions were established, and defend their procedures and legacy, without answering some of the valid criticism that those labelled as ‘armchair critics’ have raised. The South African insiders, notably Charles Villa-Vicencio, are especially guilty of reciting the same well-worn myths about the apparent success of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission like a homily.

Abdul Tejan-Cole's chapter on Sierra Leone's Special Court is one of the more insightful and thorough chapters. Abdul Raham Lamin's contribution on politics and justice raises some important points regarding the ownership of tribunals. The chapter by Sheila Meintjes on gender and truth commissions is also worthy of attention. However, because most of the chapters focus on the same commissions and tribunals, there is a large degree of repetition. The chapters are also relatively short, and too much time is spent providing background information, limiting analysis and discussion. In summary, this book does not contain any groundbreaking contributions to the field of transitional justice, but it does provide an introduction and overview of some of the more prominent truth commissions and tribunals in Africa.