Leena Vastapuu earned her doctoral degree from the University of Turku, Finland in 2017. She has written and researched widely on warfare and humanitarian issues, with a particular interest in the impact of conflict on women and gender roles. This is her first book. Emmi Nieminen is a visual artist specialising in comics and graphic storytelling. Nieminen's work has been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions in Germany, Italy, Taiwan and Switzerland, and has been published in various anthologies in Finnish, English and German. Currently, Nieminen lives and works in Tampere, Finland, and is part of the Tampere Kunsthalle collective. She has been nominated twice for the Sarjakuva-Finlandia award.
'Vastapuu and Nieminen have compelled me to think afresh about female veterans' post-war lives. Anyone curious about the complex lives of women during and after wars will be gripped by this eye-opening book.' Cynthia Enloe, author of The Big Push: Exposing and Challenging the Persistence of Patriarchy 'A beautiful meditation on the ways in which young female veterans in Liberia navigate life after war. Employing a set of unique methodologies, Liberia's Women Veterans will become a key text in its field.' Annick T.R. Wibben, University of San Francisco 'Vastapuu makes a compelling case for gender to be mainstreamed in post-conflict reconstructive spaces. This book is among the very best to be written on youth, militarization, and coming of age.' Mark A. Drumbl, Washington and Lee University 'Fresh. Daring. Artistic. Humane. Its breakthrough methods and a willingness to operate outside the box result in fascinating accounts of women who fought in Liberia's wars.' Christine Sylvester, University of Connecticut 'Vastapuu not only offers a harrowing account of suffering as well as triumph over adversity, but also advances a truly innovative approach that makes this book highly relevant to a wide set of readers interested in questions of gender, violence and politics.' Roland Bleiker, University of Queensland