Customer Reviews

A Thousand Hills: Rwanda's Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It

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I read this book in preparation for trip to Rwanda later this year. Mr. Kinzer has done exhaustive research into the history or Rwanda from the early 20th century through the present. From the time of Belguin colonialism, the rise of the RPF in Uganda and the genocide to an a fair presentation of Paul Kagame's mission to bring peace, reconciliation and prosperity to Rwanda post genocide. Although Rwanda has a long way to go, according the author, they are on the right track - largely thanks to Paul Kagame. The author is highly critical (rightfully so in my opinion) of the Clinton Administration, the UN and France in particular in the role either ignoring or aiding the genocide. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the history of Rwanda and the current state of affairs in the country.

President Paul Kagame is a man who inspires a wide range of emotions in those who meet him. Some like me admire him...Others hate him. Certainly many in French diplomatic circles see him as the devil clothed in Anglophone robes. In the Africanist analytical world, he is either Rwanda's greatest hope or its mortal danger. Certainly his enemies have reason to fear him even as his friends love him. Both enemy and friend know that the wise respect him.

I first met then Vice President and Defense Minister Major General Paul Kagame in the fall of 1994 when he was struggling to put the shattered country of Rwanda back together. Some were want to describe him as a "war lord" even as one could buy T-shirts with his picture on them with the phrase "Free at Last!" at Kigali's international airport. General Kagame was serious, determined, and it was clear that he was a strong man. What remained to be seen was whether he would become another "Big Man" in African politics or rise above that label to be a truly great African leader.

Like no other author so far, Stephen Kinzer offered us a peak inside the complexity named Paul Kagame. Kinzer enjoyed unprecedented access to the President of Rwanda and provided a colorful and insightful biography of the man. Like any good interlocutor, Kinzer understands that listening is best technique for the interviewer. He offers Kagame's own words to the reader allowing the subject of this biography to speak on his own behalf. That is not only fair, it is probably critical to understand this man who spent much of his life fighting the status quo--and ultimately winning.

According to Kinzer, Kagame's early life as a refugee in Uganda hardened him into the typical angry young man found in a life surrounded by poverty. Early on in his youth he became friends with Fred Rwigyema. Together they later would become co-founders of the Rwandan Patriotic Front. But first they would join Museveni's 40-man National Resistance Army in Uganda and overthrow Obote. When Rwigyema fell in the first few days of the RPF's 1990 invasion of Rwanda, Kagame resigned from the US Army Command and General Staff College to take command and reorganize the RPF. He and the RPF went on to win a military victory they did not really desire, sparking a genocide for which they could not be blamed.

Despite Kagame's military prowess, I found Kinzer's chapters on the post-war period from 2000 on to be the most illuminating because they concentrate on Kagame's role as President of Rwanda. At the same time, they provide great hope for the country's future and portents of possible disaster. President Kagame is indeed Rwanda's greatest hope. At the same time, he is his own greatest nemesis...

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Africa, small wars, reconciliation, and development. Kinzer's prose is easy to read and entertaining. His narrative is insightful. The Paul Kagame I knew came to life when I read this book.

The full review is posted on Small Wars Journal Blog at http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2008/07/book-review-a-thousand-hills-r/

Thomas (Tom) P. Odom
LTC US Army (ret)
Author, Journey into Darkness: Genocide in Rwanda
Journey Into Darkness: Genocide In Rwanda (Texas a & M University Military History Series)

Stephen Kinzer, former Times correspondent, has written a curious book about Paul Kagame, current leader of Rwanda. Kinzer's approach is to tell Kagame's story from the beginning and then let Kagame, in his own italicized words, comment on the ideas and incidents that Kinzer has highlighted. This makes for a nice balance of author and subject but more often than not Kinzer seems uncertain whether Kagame's particular approach is really as wonderful as Kinzer desperately wants it to be.

Why is Kinzer so eager to see Kagame succeed? That's a simple enough question to answer. The Rwandan genocide was a horrendous event and one can only feel sympathy for the Rwandan people and wish them well in overcoming the disastrous effects of that grusome episode. One also senses a real affection for Kagame on the part of Kinzer who undoubtedly views him as an immensely heroic (even romantic?) figure. A true guerrilla leader/statesman in the mold of Che Guevara. A man who also bent history to his own will.

One of the most remarkable revelations in this book is that fact that foreign diplomats posted in Kigali are often at odds with their home governments in how to deal with the overtly authoritarian and at times repressive actions of Kagame's government. When Kinzer interviews these diplomats the same rationale seems to emerge: we don't like everything Kagame is doing but it seems to be working so let's not rock the boat. Kinzer also makes short work of critical analysts from organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch who according, to Kinzer, are short-sighted and may even have an anti-Kagame bias.

This is not to say that Kinzer himself is totally on board with the Kagame Way. Far from it. He asks all the right questions about all the appropriate issues, but his bias is always to give Kagame the benefit of the doubt. In fact he gives more than a benefit: he ends up suggesting that the Kagame Way might be the most appropriate way for the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa.
What would this mean? Basically a shift away from democratically elected governments to one party, 'enlightened' authoritarianism. Highly aggressive population control schemes, coupled with an emphasis on education, particularly of the technical kind. It also means state involvement in all aspects of the economy as well as hyper-security measures that are designed to undermine any organized resistance to the state's control. In other contexts, these measures would be reviled by the international community: in Rwanda the diplomats note that the streets are clean, that there is no visible crime in their particular neighborhoods and that the people are industrious, punctual, and polite. (What's there for a foreigner not to like?)

Given what Rwanda has been through it is hard to argue that what exists there now is much better than what went on before. It is also hard not to admire Paul Kagame. He is 'serious' (a 'serious' word in Rwanda), and fearless and does seem to be in the mold of other enlightened strong-men like Lee Kwan Yew of Singapore and Mahatir of Malaysia.

Whether there are other Kagames waiting in the wings of other African nations is highly doubtful. The best hope is that young politicians in other African countries will see that Kagame is offering a way that is not totally dependent on the 'kindness of strangers' i.e. foreign aid, and a way that stresses hard work and honesty over corruption and greed.

As for enlightened despotism: well let's hope that the world and Mr. Kinzer believe that even Africans deserve better.


http://afriweb.blogspot.com/2008/08/way-of-kagame.html

Paul Kagame, along with Morgan Tsvangirai and Yoweri Museveni, represents one of Arica's most brilliant contemporary leaders. Kagame was born in 1957 to a Tutsi family and at the age of three was forced to flee his country after a Hutu uprising forced more than a hundred thousand Tutsis to flee in an early form of ethnic-cleansing. In 1979 Kagame joined Yoweri Museveni's guerilla movement in Uganda, where he was residing as a refugee. Museveni was fighting the dictator Milton Obote and when Obote fell from power Kagame was able to study first hand the outcome of the overthrow of a viscious dictator. When the Rwandan genocide broke out in 1994 Paul Kagame was in charge of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a mostly Tutsi armed guerilla group. His well disciplined army overthrew the genocidal regime and he has been in power ever since. This book examines his role in nation building and in reconciliation and it a wonderful account of the history of Rwanda before 1994 and after. In this it helps fill this important gap in the history of the country.

Seth J. Frantzman

A well written, captivating history of the recent war and current recovery in Rwanda. The concept of people giving forgiveness following mass killing is an integral part of healing of this country.

Excellent, my husband could not put this book down, written well, good understanding of the conditons and history of Rowanda.

Kinzer's eloquently and highly readable account of Paul Kagame's road to presidency in Rwanda is an intriguing read for anyone interested in African affairs or, in particular, the astonishing story of a country's road to perdition and back. In a journalistic way easy-to-read, Kinzer covers most aspects of Rwanda's modern history and the country's laid out path for the future as it attempts to become a middle-income country. A gripping and interesting story of a president's attempt to bring his country back on track. I look forward to reading a Kinzer follow-up on Kagame's ambitious plans in 10-15 years.

Summary: A Thousand Hills by Stephen Kinzer/Rwanda's rebirth and the man who dreamed it

This is an awful and a beautiful story of Rwanda, pre and post-genocide, a gripping story like you have never read before. It is a book about a country that was forgotten and how in this globalized world, that is not possible to do anymore without grave consequences. It is also an important story of a country that has come back from the brink of hell to a totally different future. It is a story that is taking place right now.

It is also the story of Paul Kagame, almost murdered at the age of two years along with his family by a death squad in the "practice genocide" of 1959, a refugee in Uganda most of his early life, a visionary guerilla leader with a simple dream to return to his homeland and now the President of Rwanda trying to bring this future into reality. This is a story of leadership and the script is being written now.

Stephen Kinzer, an award-winning writer that has worked in more than 50 countries, has written a compelling, incredible book. It is history from a different perspective that I had not read about before. It is a book that many political leaders from Europe, the USA and most of all the UN will be upset about regarding the colonial period and specifically the genocide of 1994. When individuals and countries had the power to do something, most did little if nothing. Rwanda is a small, landlocked country with few resources. This was an African issue, tribes fighting tribes, colonial powers protecting their age-old self-interests. So most did nothing. That is the awfulness of a "A Thousand Hills" where the darkest part of the human soul came out with all of its hate and prejudice. Some wonder whether it will happen again.

However, this is not just another book about the genocide. It is a book about a audacious vision of turning Rwanda into a different place by 2020. It is about a leader with a dream of a secure and free Rwanda, reducing poverty, providing clean water, electricity and education in Rwanda and creating jobs, business, good governance and ending corruption to mention a few. There are incredible stories of what is taking place in Rwanda to make this dream a reality.

There are also serious criticisms. One of the most stinging criticism lies at the door of the United Nations in 1994 and their failed peace-keeping efforts under the direction of Kofi Annan, their mis and/or failed-communication to the countries in the Security Council of what was actually taking place on the ground in Rwanda and their lack of taking any responsibility of that failure after the genocide. There are also criticism of the leadership of President Paul Kagame.

After reading this book, I want to know more. I want to go to Rwanda and see the changes and see what is happening. If radical change can happen like this in Rwanda, it can happen in any country. I highly recommend this book. Get your tickets......

I read this book in about 36 hours. Sure, I happen to be in Rwanda at the time, but the way in which Kinzer told Rwanda & Paul Kagame's story was utterly fascinating & kept me hooked throughout. Highly highly recommend, even if you do not know much about Rwanda or Kagame. After reading this you will know at least part of the story & will no doubt have huge sympathy for a country & people who have gone through hell and back.

Rwanda became big news in the mid-1990s when we saw on our television sets millions of refugees who had streamed into neighbouring countries Zaire and Tanzania to escape "inter-ethnic conflict". But in this book Stephen Kinzer points out that what we were told was largely a sanitised lie. The "conflict" was actually a government-planned genocide of a minority ethnic group, the Tutsi, and the "refugees" were predominantly the perpetrators of the genocide.

Shamefully, Kofi Annan and the UN instructed the UN peacekeeping force to stand by and do nothing while the Tutsi were being butchered at the rate of one every ten seconds over a period of 100 days. The slaughtering did not stop until the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) forces invaded and took over the country. Assisted by French "peacekeeping" forces, the murderous government regime escaped to the "refugee" camps in Zaire along with their weapons, so that they could carry on the war from outside the country for a further decade, resulting in another 5 million deaths.

The book tells the story of Paul Kagame's leadership of the RPF, and the extraordinary challenges he has subsequently faced as president of Rwanda, an exceptionally difficult task given the complexity of seeking to reconcile murderers and victims, the ever-present threat of re-ignition of hostilities, and the depth of poverty faced by most of the citizens of the country.

I found this to be an intensely moving and engaging book. I was occasionally irritated by some of the author's opinions, such as the way he criticised Kagame for failing to embrace a UNDP report recommending that the government focus its efforts on agriculture rather than private enterprise, infrastructure and IT. Perhaps I am missing something, but it seems like a really dumb idea for a tiny land-locked overpopulated country to place its hopes for economic development in agriculture. In spite of these minor flaws, this is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.