The book provides a brief endoscopy of armed groups, transfers of small arms and light weapons, their role in the many crises and conflicts that have marked Africa's political life, and their impact on the continent's economic development. It provides ample evidence that legal and illegal transfers of this type of military equipment, and their abusive use in times of peace and war by state and non-state agents, are levers of almost chronic political instability in African countries. In economic terms, the flow of small arms into the wrong hands jeopardizes all development efforts..