The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide by Gérard Prunier Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide
Book Review: A horrifying report on how we humans behave
Summary: 5 Stars
This book has plenty of information about Rwanda and the 1994 genocide there. Yes, the book may appear anti-Hutu. But that is because so many of the Hutus were guilty of genocide. The fact that not all Tutsis have always been angels does not change that.
Rwanda is a country of a little over 10,000 square miles, with several million people. At the beginning of 1994, about ten percent of its people were Tutsis and almost all of the rest were Hutus. There were about 900,000 Tutsis. In the space of a few weeks, 800,000 of the Tutsis were brutally murdered, many of them by their neighbors, who generally used machetes to slaughter them. This was a carefully planned extermination. There was a long period of incitement. And even the word "inyenzi" (literally, "cockroaches") used by Hutu extremists to describe Tutsis started as a reference to violent armed men who tended to move at night. It was not merely a term of derision, but also one which helped produce a reaction of fear that encouraged the massacres.
The author explains that had it not been for the success of a Tutsi army in eventually (but too late) taking the capital city, the leaders of the genocide probably would have gotten away with it completely. There might have been a brief and partial UN boycott, with France discreetly violating it, followed by a restoration of international ties with the government.
The differences between Tutsis and Hutus had made a big impression on European colonialists a century earlier. The Tutsis were usually considerably taller and thinner than the Hutus. The Tutsis typically had narrower noses and lighter skins as well. Europeans had put Tutsis in control of the land in spite of the fact that the Hutus were a big majority. However, when Rwanda obtained independence, the Hutus gained control and the Tutsis were almost entirely unrepresented in the government or military leadership.
Although most of the Tutsis in Rwanda were killed, several hundred thousand Tutsis who lived outside Rwanda moved into that country when the Tutsi army gained control of it. And well over a million Hutus fled Rwanda.
Prunier makes many interesting points. One is that although many people claimed that the Tutsis were much richer than the Hutus, the average incomes of Tutsis and Hutus were about the same. Another is about the role of France in supporting the Hutus. There is a revealing quote of a French minister who was asked about this and gave a very unconvincing denial: "Me! Accuse me of having got people to train death squads! Let's be serious! In all these crises some people always find a way to attack France."
When some French troops finally showed up in the area, the Hutus applauded them in a big way. Radio announcements told Hutu girls to "wash yourselves and put on a good dress for our French allies. The Tutsi girls are all dead so you have your chance."
These sorts of things, along with some amazing official French comments about the Hutus and Tutsis killing each other, as though there were simply victims and no criminals, make it appear that France was a big part of the problem. The United Nations forces, with their instructions not to stop any of the atrocities, were worse than useless.
I learned quite a bit from this book. It is a sobering look at our species.
Book Review: Eclipsed, but important
Summary: 5 Stars
From an ex-Peace Corps Volunteer, Rwanda.This book seems to have been eclipsed by Gourevitch's journalistic account. Prunier was there and writing at the time that this happened. This book is basically a compilation of his observations of the genocide in Rwanda as it was occuring. It is, perhaps, less passionate than other accounts, but that only makes it more chilling. It traces the origins of the Rwanda genocide, the horrors of preparation and execution. This is an important book.
Book Review: History is usually manipulated to charge events with passion
Summary: 4 Stars
and Mr. Prunier, tries to keep out of this game as well as possible. He does so - and this is and answer to the reader who finds it a pitty not to express emotions - because he is aware of the hot climate in which this event is being regarded. Scholars, journalists, people, press and governements draw from the history of Rwanda and from the stereotypes of Africa not to explain what (the facts) happened in 1994, but to impose their own opinion every time, to justify their position. We had enough of this! I really appreciate that Mr. Prunier does his best in not participating to the emotional game. We need to set out the facts in a clear way, this is the only way to discuss. I can understand that it might be hard for someone, expecially for rwandese whose family suffered in the massacres to accept this "cold observer from the outside", still I would like to ask these people to recall all the occasions in which precisely emotional arguments created trouble in that little state in the middle of Africe, and in the world's politics. Thank you.Book Review: The world MUST know what happened in Rwanda
Summary: 5 Stars
The people of Rwanda have lived through an ongoing civil war and one of the three recognized genocides. Prunier seems to step back from the emotional aspect and explain what happened in a logical way. This is important for understanding the events. Equally as important, the rest of the world essentially ignored the tragedy. Rwanda is a prime example of the damage caused by colonialism and the arbitrary boarders drawn out by the ruling country. The west wants to ignore the ramifications of colonialism because they were the participants. But the effects are real and they are devastating.Book Review: no passion
Summary: 1 Stars
Though the cold hard facts are present, I found a lack of passion towards what Mr. Prunier was writting about. He may have felt compassion towards the estimated 1,000 brutally murdered people, but he did not express it in his words. For practically the whole book you learn about the politics involved but not the people, the real people. The lack of enthusiasm and compassion make this book dry and uninteresting towards the younger audience. Mr. Prunier is a very good author but he needs to show, in words, his feelings, not the cold hard facts. NOT everything is as black and white as some may see it to be.