Images of the genocide in Darfur have shocked the Western world: Upwards of 300,000 of its inhabitants have died, and another 2.5 million have become refugees. Those affected by the violence are estimated at almost 4 million, 700,000 of whom are now beyond the reach of humanitarian assistance. These are staggering numbers, and the fractious insurgent groups involved - Islamist Arab tribal militias against Christian black Africans and other militias made up of deserters of the Chad Army - were and still are supported to kill, rob, and terrorize by the governments of the neighboring states of the Sudan, Chad, and Libya.In Darfur; The Long Road to Disaster, Burr and Collins have updated their original 1999 volume with additional chapters. The new title is not a publisher's gimmick: this is indeed the prehistory of Darfur's tragedy, and it is essential, if difficult, reading for any serious student of the crisis.