Books on Rwanda

I would suggest "We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families" by Philip Gourevitch. The best book I have read about the historical and social issues of Rwanda.

Any of three books by Jean Hatzfeld (Machete Season, Life Laid Bare and/or Antelope Strategy).

I really also enjoyed "As We Forgive" by Catherine Claire Larson. This book takes us through the reconciliation process in post-genocide Rwanda. A bit on the religious side but the format and the stories are heart touching.

Also there is a book called "Land of 1000 Hills" by Rosamond Carr and it is lovely. About a women who came to Congo then Rwanda in the 1940's and live until her death about 3 years ago. Nice little "Out of Africa" type story.

Enjoy.

I too can recommend Gourevitch's book, a very important read.

There is a book called "Shake Hands with the Devil" by Romeo Dallaire. There is also a film by the same name. The book is interesting, but quite detailed. I highly recommend the film.

Peace,

BB

A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali by Gil Courtemanche also.

Thanks for all the info there, brilliant, lots to go on. I bought 'Shake hands with the devil yesterday', and will get onto amazon now, and order some of the others.
Cheers!

If I had to limit my recommendation to just one book, it would be the Philip Gourivitch book with the unwieldy title, suggested in posts #1 and #2. It's only significant limitation is that it was completed in or around 1998, so it obviously doesn't include what has gone on in Rwanda since. Incidentally, Gourivitch recently left his job as editor-in-chief of The Paris Review in order to research and write a follow-up book on Rwanda.

I also strongly agree with #1 regarding any of Jean Hatzfeld's three books. These are unique among books written about Rwanda in that each is based on the thoughts, fears, and feelings of about twelve people from a single town, with whom Hatzfeld spent months, earning their trust and eliciting astonishingly vivid recollections and revealing opinions. These may well be three of the best books of this type ever written about any+ country. My personal favorite of the three is +Machete Season, which presents the recollections, perspectives, admissions, and rationalizations of a group of genocide perpetrators who were in prison when Hatzfeld spent day after day interviewing them.

I would also recommend Stephen Kinzer's, A Thousand Hills. The last quarter or third of this book offers informative context and discussion with regard to the measures and strategies the government has been employing to maintain stability and deter future genocides, and/or (depending on your opinion) to assure that it stays in power.

Shake Hands with the Devil is best when it comes to describing the repeated failures and deliberate refusals of the international community, in particular the U.N., U.S., and France, to do anything to stop or even acknowledge the 1994 genocide while it was being prepared and then carried out.

I would advise against Gourevitch's book, as it is little more than pro-Kagame propaganda. Mahmood Mamdani's "When Victims Become Killers" is better, though still very anti-Hutu. Marie Beatrice Umutesi's "Surviving the Slaughter: The Ordeal of a Rwandan Refugee in Zaire" is a fantastic memoir, as is Immaculee Ilibagiza's (I can't remember the name). I would also recommend Jan Vansina's "Antecedents to Modern Rwanda'' if you want a longer historical perspective.

The current RPF-led government in Rwanda is very controlling about the information it lets out, so be wary of anything with Kagame's seal of approval. For a more realistic (and disturbing) view of the Rwandan genocide and regional situation, go to http://allthingspass.com/journalism.php?catid=47.

Thanks guys, all good stuff!