Mixed feelings.

On one hand, it seems inconceivable to give a 5* rating to a book about genocide and at the same time a 1*. From reading fiction, we are so accustomed to evaluating mainly the content first. Here I have to make an exception.

The book describes an important period, but it is written and perhaps also translated uninterestingly. The first half, which reveals to you what actually happened, was read in one unpleasant breath.

But then the author inundated us with too many personal stories that unfortunately did not complete the overall picture, but only distanced it.

Overall, this book left me with a rather ambivalent impression. While the subject matter is of great significance, the execution falls short in several aspects. The writing style could have been more engaging, and the balance between presenting the historical facts and incorporating personal accounts could have been better. It's a pity that such an important topic is not presented in a more captivating way.

I hope that future works on this subject will manage to combine the necessary historical accuracy with a more engaging narrative to truly bring the horror and importance of genocide to life for the readers.

A truly informative and eye-opening read, this book has completely changed my perspective.

I had no idea how ignorant I was about the Rwandan genocide before delving into its pages, and I suspect that many Americans share the same lack of knowledge.

The author has done an outstanding job of seamlessly combining interviews, a captivating narrative, in-depth history, and diverse perspectives. This skillful blend ensures that the book maintains a steady and engaging pace, never dragging or becoming overly burdened with details. It is a prime example of journalism at its finest.

To be honest, the content of the book is heart-wrenching. At certain moments, I found myself on the verge of tears or filled with anger. The subject matter is intense and complex, making it difficult to fully grasp the multitude of factors that led to the genocide and the atrocities that occurred.

There were times when I had to pause, reflect, and allow the gravity of the situation to sink in. However, I am grateful that I read this book, as it has brought me one step closer to becoming an informed global citizen.

I wholeheartedly encourage others to pick up this book. Yes, it deals with a depressing topic, but based on my experience in the book club I attended, most people agreed that they were glad they had read it, despite their initial misgivings about the subject matter.

It is essential that we face the harsh realities of history in order to learn from them and work towards a more peaceful and just future.

All at once, as it seemed, something we could have only imagined was upon us—and we could still only imagine it. This is what fascinates me most in existence: the peculiar necessity of imagining what is, in fact, real.

This was an incredibly difficult book to read, and an even harder one to review. If it weren't for my library's year-long reading challenge and the prompt to "read a book written by a journalist", I would never have picked this up. But I'm so glad I did, despite how horrible it was to read. It shed light on many of the questions I had about this dark time. My only other knowledge of the Rwandan Genocide came solely from the film Hotel Rwanda, which really only showed a select part of the story and left out a great deal of context. It's a fantastic film, and I do highly recommend it, but this book definitely far surpasses it in terms of information and educational value.

This book is divided into two main parts. In general, the first part follows the events leading up to and including the massacre, while the second part focuses on the aftermath and recovery efforts (if some of them can even be called that). It's a tiring tale with apocalyptic elements straight out of a far-fetched science fiction novel. Sometimes it feels a little unreal, this dark age story from just a few years before I was born. It seems anachronistic, but then, looking at the world I live in now, it's so very relevant and intrinsically real.

The massacre itself, this cruel act of genocide, was, and I feel wrong admitting this, my favorite part of the book. It was straightforwardly awful, and there was something about it that was morbidly fascinating. Gourevitch addresses this phenomenon directly and provides excellent commentary on it without either condemning or condoning. This same very direct but equally objective perspective pervades the entire book, and I truly appreciated it.

The part that disgusted me beyond even the senseless slaughter itself was the reaction or lack thereof on the part of the international community, primarily regarding America and France. I guess people just want to ignore that the French actively supplied the Hutu aggressors and that the world refused to call this a genocide lest they be required to give any aid whatsoever. And when they were forced to help, they continued to help those doing the killing and ignored those who suffered the most. And why? For what? What could have possibly made these modern nations commit such atrocities?

And it makes sense: look at the USA's constant neglect of even its own people in recent years and throughout history, as seen in the Michigan water crisis, in post-hurricane Puerto Rico, and in the systematic abuse of African Americans and Mexican immigrants, particularly children. What seems, at face value, wrong and illogical – that first world countries in the modern age could be so cruel and unusual against their fellow man – is actually very, very believable.

And when Rwanda tried to recover on its own, it was attacked again from all angles, from within and from without.

This book taught me that human nature is complicated and sometimes very extreme, that people hold grudges, sometimes senselessly and sometimes with good reason. That people can be tipped over the edge and will keep falling until either they or their enemy are dead. What I learned will stay with me forever. In this age of mass killings every other day, it's something I can hardly ever forget.

(This review was written after my first reading. My opinions remain the same.)

This book should be required reading for all humans.

It contains a wealth of knowledge and wisdom that can have a profound impact on our lives.

The author presents ideas and concepts in a clear and engaging manner, making it accessible to readers of all backgrounds.

By reading this book, we can gain a deeper understanding of ourselves, our relationships, and the world around us.

It can inspire us to think differently, challenge our assumptions, and make positive changes in our lives.

Whether you are a student, a professional, or simply someone who is interested in personal growth and development, this book has something to offer.

It is a must-read for anyone who wants to expand their horizons and become a better version of themselves.

So, don't hesitate. Pick up this book today and start your journey of self-discovery and growth.

This book took an inordinate amount of time for me to complete, and it irked me to a greater extent than it probably should have.

The author dedicated three years to Rwanda following the massive genocide in 1994 and conducted numerous interviews with a wide range of people - survivors, perpetrators, politicians, bystanders, and so on. This should have positioned him to narrate a truly remarkable, informative, emotionally charged, and overwhelming story.

However, instead, very little of the interview material is utilized, and the majority of the book consists of dry, textbook-like information regarding the history of Rwanda and its people. It is not always presented in a chronological order, which is quite perplexing. Additionally, certain politicians are mentioned in earlier chapters, but their stories are not told until later chapters, which is also confusing, especially given the length of Rwandan last names.

On the positive side, this book did teach me a great deal about the history of this tumultuous country, and for that, I am grateful.

This book, despite its challenging content, is an essential read for every individual.

It is shameful that so much has occurred and continues to happen in our shared world, about which I was completely ignorant.

I watched the movie "Hotel Rwanda" years ago, but I admit I never truly endeavored to understand the real events and the devastating impact of the genocide on the entire population.

When this took place, I was only four. How is it that I know so much about ancient history yet knew so little about the tragic loss of so many lives?

In an era where all types of information are instantly and easily accessible, it seems irresponsible to have turned a blind eye for so long.

Reading about the chaos that Western developed civilizations brought to these African countries, while simultaneously attempting to assist those who didn't ask for their interference and grappling with the guilt of not intervening when people pleaded for it, is extremely frustrating.

How could a million people be killed in the streets, with knives, by their former neighbors, relatives, friends, and coworkers, while countries with the means to stop it looked the other way?

If this were to happen again, would they act differently? Would we even know about it? Could we stop it?

Realizing how we fail our fellow humans is terrifying. As a third-world born middle-class graphic designer, I feel this deeply. I wonder how important politicians, businesspeople, and the ultra-wealthy feel about all this. Do they think about the lives they neglect to save as they go to sleep?

Anyway, this is a highly comprehensive piece of investigative journalism, and I appreciate how the author always makes his stance clear. He is not impartial. This is his book, based on his views and experiences. And I concur with him. One cannot be impartial when it comes to genocide, especially when denouncing the indifference of others.

Although I read this book only recently, over a decade after the events of the genocide in Rwanda, I think that time has only reinforced and strengthened the impact of this book.

While I cannot claim to have been old enough to be properly plugged into the political landscape during as the events were unfolding, it is indeed damning that I could have come away from all of the news coverage that the genocide eventually produced with such a deeply flawed understanding of the massacre.

“We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families” follows the events of the Hutu-led genocide of around 1 million Tutsis beginning in 1994. The history of this unprecedented violence dates back decades to the Hutu takeover of the Tutsi-dominated government and countless other small scale slayings of Tutsis starting in the 1940s. This, in turn, has roots far back into the settling of the area of Rwanda and the grouping of these separate people under a common border by British colonialists. The book provides a startling look at how seemingly minor differences in ethnic origins and social class of two groups of people can be magnified and manipulated for the justification of horrifyingly inhumane actions – all which occur long after time has erased most outward differences.

Gourevitch leads us through the main events that occurred leading up to and then following the governmental program that was designed and executed deliberately to erase the Tutsis from within Rwanda’s borders. This includes a number of stories about the acts of cruelty and a fewer number of human kindnesses in a time of “complete chaos”. The title of the book is taken from an actual letter that was sent from captured Tutsis to their local pastor begging for assistance – a letter that went largely ignored. It also leads the reader to the refugee camps that were dominated by the Hutu political escapees, attempting to flee from justice. Then it describes how the international support largely went to these refugee camps, and how these funds and resources were largely capitalized by the Hutu majority to continue to send out raiding parties to annihilate any surviving Tutsis.

This raises one of the main points of the book: the surprising indifference of the international community during the early stages of the genocide and how the UN and leading countries (the US and France amongst the worst offenders) attempted to avoid any responsibility for helping the Rwandan people. Then, when belated foreign aid was sent, how poorly it was managed and how the funds were often funneled to fuel the killings.

“We wish to inform you” is a book that I would recommend to pretty much anyone with any sense of introspection or feeling of duty to an increasingly interconnected world. The reading is surely not pleasant, but it is certainly shocking and a wake-up call – demanding a re-evaluation of humanity as a whole and one’s place in it.

One of the absolute best non-fiction books I have ever had the privilege of reading. It serves as a truly shocking indictment of what is supposed to be the global community's complicity in the Rwandan genocide that took place in the 1990s. During that tragic time, the Hutu Power movement methodically and systematically exterminated hundreds of thousands of their Tutsi countrymen, along with any fellow Hutus who had the courage to refuse to engage in the genocide themselves. Meanwhile, the United Nations seemed to just sit idly by, doing nothing. The United States was more preoccupied with maintaining appearances and getting caught up in semantics rather than taking decisive action to put an end to the bloodshed. And to make matters even worse, France actively provided support, which only served to prolong the killing. Gourevitch does, however, also highlight some remarkable examples of heroic opposition to the genocide. But for me, this is predominantly a story that showcases humanity at its very worst. It's about the perpetrators who committed these heinous crimes and the international observers who, through their inaction, allowed it all to happen.

I simply cannot put into words just how powerful this book truly is. It is a work that I feel compelled to read again. The Rwandan genocide, which occurred nearly twenty years ago, is a topic that I had not delved into deeply enough before. This book has opened my eyes to the underlying issues that led to the killing of 800,000 Tutsis within a mere three months. It also reveals the horrific extent to which the rest of the world simply stood by and watched, and in the case of France, actually aided the Hutus in their slaughter.

I found Gourevitch's exploration of the history of Rwanda to be most fascinating. The colonial creation of ethnic Hutus and Tutsis, drawing arbitrary distinctions between people that were not part of the existing cultural landscape, is a crucial aspect that many Americans may not be fully aware of. There is a common misperception of "tribal violence" in Africa, with a very racist picture of a continent filled with warring factions that are thousands of years old. However, this misperception掩盖了 two crucial facts. Firstly, the "ethnic differences" between Hutus and Tutsis are a creation of colonialists, and people themselves often cannot tell a Hutu from a Tutsi. Secondly, what took place in Rwanda was not warfare but an outright slaying of Tutsi people by the Hutus.

And yet, while 800,000 people were brutally killed one by one, with machetes, thrown down wells and latrines, hacked and tortured in the most arduous manners, the UN, the US, and the rest of the world stood by. Gourevitch, a journalist, interviews survivors, killers, politicians, soldiers, and generals to paint a vivid picture of the energy and time it took to carry out these killings one by one with machetes. And then there is the fact that the French army actually supported the Hutus. It may sound like an unbearably difficult book to read, but it is of utmost importance that we do so and strive to understand. The world said "never again" after Hitler, and yet we stood by again. This book is definitely a must-read.

"Čo má utrpenie spoločné s genocídou, keď je zločinom samotná myšlienka?"

This is a very important book that quite deeply explains the Rwandan genocide both historically and contextually. There are relatively fewer stories of the victims and the perpetrators, and the space is mainly given to the political events. However, the book is not only limited to the genocide but also the events after it, where the killings and wars continued. The book is a great critique of the UN Security Council, humanitarian organizations, and overall Western countries. Personally, what bothered me was the very cozy and even friendly tone towards some individuals, for example, towards Kagame. This can be partly understood as the book was published in 1998 and the author didn't know what Kagame would do in the 21st century. But still, I would have expected a greater distance.

This book provides a comprehensive look at the Rwandan genocide and its aftermath. It delves into the political, social, and historical factors that led to the genocide and examines the role of various actors, including the international community. The author's analysis is thought-provoking and challenges the reader to question some of the commonly held beliefs and assumptions about the genocide.

Overall, this book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in learning more about the Rwandan genocide and its implications. It offers a unique perspective and sheds light on a tragic event that has had a profound impact on the people of Rwanda and the world.

For three intense weeks of reading about a thing, about which I knew only one thing - that it happened.

Memories, testimonies, facts and deceptions, the attempt to explain the problem of the Rwandan genocide to an ordinary person from the West. That's how I felt when I was reading it, that I don't understand, I can't, I don't know... and I wasn't even able to reproduce for Peter what I was actually reading. Poor snippets, pieces of information, but I was unable in that first moment after reading to somehow sensibly capture what actually happened there. What amazed me the most was what followed after those first three most prominent months. That it wasn't the end, on the contrary, it all grew into a kind of long agony without any possibility of a happy ending.

Read it.

How is it possible that we know so little about one of the saddest recent episodes in humanity? Why don't we learn in school about the history of a genocide that, in 1994, exterminated more than a million people in just 100 days in Rwanda because of ethnic differences? Perhaps what happens in a small country in the middle of the African continent may not be of much interest to the media from a political or economic point of view... but, regardless of that, we can correct this selective filter of the information that reaches us during our youth.

The history is, indeed, extremely sad. It is visceral. But as human beings, we need to know our history, to know what - unfortunately - we are capable of, even to avoid new episodes like this. We have to know that an apparently harmless discriminatory policy can lead to a collective massacre, something out of a horror movie. And that is what the work of the American journalist Philip Gourevitch, who spent three years researching the tragedy, brings to the reader. It is a true immersion in the history of the country, covering the entire period preceding the genocide, the very months of the mass killings, and the moments following the event that left an eternal mark on the citizens of that country. There are accounts from direct victims of attacks, assassins, and people related to the government.

The writing is engaging, but Gourevitch doesn't mind revealing terrifying details of what happened in Rwanda. It is a book that causes extreme discomfort to the reader, but it is the result of a deep research into the mentality of the Rwandan people. The work is extensive, and for this reason, I recommend that you alternate it with a more peaceful fictional book, which can prevent the reading from becoming a bit repetitive and tiring. I read the book before my trip to Rwanda, and, without a doubt, the reading greatly enriched my experience on the trip! The country is incredible, just like its people, who were able to learn from the tragedy and transform themselves into a reference of development for African countries.

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