Steidle, Brian 1976(?)-

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Steidle, Brian 1976(?)-

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1976; son of a naval officer. Education: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, B.S., 1999.

ADDRESSES:

CAREER:

Consultant. Joint Military Commission, Nuba Mountains, Sudan, team leader, then senior operations officer, 2004; U.S. State Department, Darfur, Sudan, military observer, 2004; advisor to various nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) on Darfur. Military service: U.S. Marines, 1999-2003, served in infantry in Africa; became captain.

WRITINGS:

(With sister, Gretchen Steidle Wallace) The Devil Came on Horseback: Bearing Witness to the Genocide in Darfur, Public Affairs (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Brian Steidle is an American consultant. Son of a naval officer, Steidle grew up on U.S. military bases around the world. In 1999 he earned a bachelor of science degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Shortly after graduation he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in the infantry in Africa. In 2003 Steidle left the Marines with the rank of captain, fearing that he would not enjoy working a desk job. Instead, he joined the Joint Military Commission in 2004, serving in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan as a team leader. Within a few months, he had been promoted to senior operations officer. He was initially tasked with helping with the cease-fire in the Sudanese civil war. Later that year, however, he took the opportunity to work for the U.S. State Department as an unarmed military observer with the African Union in Darfur. Steidle witnessed firsthand the aggressive actions of ethnic Arab nomadic tribes of Sudanese, called the janjaweed, or "the devil on the horse," who attacked ethnic black Sudanese villages in the area, killing hundreds of thousands and displacing over a million.

Unable to stand by idly and simply observe the genocide, Steidle released photographs of the aftermaths of a janjaweed raid to the New York Times with the hope of giving the issue more international attention. With the lack of action by the African Union, Sudanese government, and United Nations, Steidle was moved to write his personal account of the situation and publish it as his memoir. Written with his sister, Gretchen Steidle Wallace, who runs a nongovernmental organization (NGO) in eastern Chad for the misplaced Sudanese, The Devil Came on Horseback: Bearing Witness to the Genocide in Darfur was published in 2007. The work details Steidle's experience in Darfur, Sudan, as an unarmed military observer with the African Union. After the fragile cease-fire was negotiated, ethnic Arab nomadic tribes of Sudanese, the janjaweed, began killing and torturing ethnic black Sudanese living in the Darfur region. Although the killing is primarily on ethnic lines, many suspect that the lands are prime for putting up oil pipelines, which are predominantly controlled by Arab-Sudanese. The government, also largely Arab, ignores and denies any killings are taking place, despite accounts from reporters, victims, and Steidle and his sister. The memoir tells of houses being burned, oftentimes with the inhabitants inside the houses; those trying to escape are chased down and tortured or killed. Ears, eyes, and hands are severed in the process. The janjaweed, as well as the Sudanese national army, loot the stores for any valuables before they are burned and food supplies for victimized villages are destroyed. The account was made into a film that premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

Reviews for the book were mixed. Douglas R. Cobb, writing in Curled Up with a Good Book, called the book an "excellent memoir and account of the genocide in Darfur." Cobb added that "the book is as gripping and page-turning as any novel." In a National Catholic Reporter article, Jok Mardut Jok noted that "the story is as compelling as it is devastating." The reviewer concluded: "Mr. Steidle and Ms. [Steidle] Wallace juxtapose the government propaganda against the images of genocide and allow the reader to be the judge. They persuade us that this is not a question of bias versus a balanced analysis." Tara McKelvey, writing in the New York Times Book Review, thought that "Steidle's heart is in the right place," but called the stories related in the book "jarring" and "unsettling." Mary C. Allen disagreed with this account in a Library Journal review, commenting that "this horrifying memoir … grips you in the horrors of genocide and of international inaction." In a Biography article, Gerald Caplan found the memoir "revealing" but "devoid of any political analysis." A contributor to Publishers Weekly thought that the memoir "effectively channels an idealistic, adventuresome young man's growing frustration and horror in the face of ongoing crimes against humanity."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Steidle, Brian, and Gretchen Steidle Wallace, The Devil Came on Horseback: Bearing Witness to the Genocide in Darfur, Public Affairs (New York, NY), 2007.

PERIODICALS

Biography, summer, 2007, Gerald Caplan, review of The Devil Came on Horseback, p. 446.

Books, August 11, 2007, Kai Maristed, review of The Devil Came on Horseback, p. 10.

Daily Variety, August 7, 2007, Robert Koehler, review of The Devil Came on Horseback, p. 5.

Film Journal International, September, 2007, Daniel Eagan, review of The Devil Came on Horseback, p. 61.

Foreign Policy, September, 2007, author interview.

Hartford Courant, October 12, 2007, review of The Devil Came on Horseback.

Library Journal, April 15, 2007, Mary C. Allen, review of The Devil Came on Horseback, p. 105.

National Catholic Reporter, May 25, 2007, Jok Mardut Jok, review of The Devil Came on Horseback, p. 4; August 3, 2007, Jok Mardut Jok, review of The Devil Came on Horseback, p. 15.

New York Times Book Review, September 2, 2007, Tara McKelvey, review of The Devil Came on Horseback.

Publishers Weekly, February 26, 2007, review of The Devil Came on Horseback, p. 75; May 28, 2007, review of The Devil Came on Horseback, p. 58.

Variety, January 29, 2007, Robert Koehler, review of The Devil Came on Horseback, p. 45.