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Gérard Prunier

The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide (American Moment) Hardcover – January 4, 1996

by Gérard Prunier (Author)

4.4 43 ratings

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The Rwanda Crisis
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In the spring of 1994 the tiny African nation of Rwanda exploded onto the international media stage, as internal strife reached genocidal proportions. But the horror that unfolded before our eyes had been building steadily for years before it captured the attention of the world.

In The Rwanda Crisis, journalist and Africa scholar Gérard Prunier provides a historical perspective that Western readers need to understand how and why the brutal massacres of 800,000 Rwandese came to pass. Prunier shows how the events in Rwanda were part of a deadly logic, a plan that served central political and economic interests, rather than a result of ancient tribal hatreds―a notion often invoked by the media to dramatize the fighting.

The Rwanda Crisis makes great strides in dispelling the racist cultural myths surrounding the people of Rwanda, views propogated by European colonialists in the nineteenth century and carved into "history" by Western influence. Prunier demonstrates how the struggle for cultural dominance and subjugation among the Hutu and Tutsi―the central players in the recent massacres―was exploited by racially obsessed Europeans. He shows how Western colonialists helped to construct a Tutsi identity as a superior racial type because of their distinctly "non-Negro" features in order to facilitate greater control over the Rwandese.

Expertly leading readers on a journey through the troubled history of the country and its surroundings, Prunier moves from the pre-colonial Kingdom of Rwanda, though German and Belgian colonial regimes, to the 1973 coup. The book chronicles the developing refugee crisis in Rwanda and neighboring Uganda in the 1970s and 1980s and offers the most comprehensive account available of the manipulations of popular sentiment that led to the genocide and the events that have followed.

In the aftermath of this devastating tragedy, The Rwanda Crisis is the first clear-eyed analysis available to American readers. From the massacres to the subsequent cholera epidemic and emerging refugee crisis, Prunier details the horrifying events of recent years and considers propsects for the future of Rwanda.

Print length

389 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Columbia University Press
Publication date

January 4, 1996
Dimensions

8.83 x 5.85 x 1.09 inches
ISBN-10

0231104081
ISBN-13

978-0231104081
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4.4 out of 5

43 global ratings

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Vicki

Bought used - great condition, exactly as advertised.

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2023

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Could not beat the price for the used copy I bought.

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Kismet

Excellent book, a must-read in you intend to read about Rwanda at all

Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2016

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An excellent and reliable book, Prunier is one of the leading authorities on Rwandan history. Though there are plenty of other books that will give greater detail about a number of Rwanda topics such as religion, ethnic relations, colonial and pre-colonial history, this is a great book for most readers. Indeed, this book is really a must read for anyone intending to read any deeper about Rwanda, so whether you into to read shallowly or deeply into Rwanda, this is one of the best as a historical source. Dallaire's book is more compelling however, and a more gripping read, Prunier is a bit more a difficult read in comparison.

2 people found this helpful

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ChuckBeattyxHOEYologist75to03

Extremely detailed book

Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2014

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It gives extensive detail into the crisis, very detailed.

It is time consuming to absorb all the ins and outs but worth understanding this part of the world and what likely is to be the major paths in the future for this country.

One person found this helpful

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Sharp Reader

AMAZING Book!

Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2011

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This is an amazing book, a must-read if you want to find out why and how the genocide unfolded in Rawanda. I have read other books on this subject, including prize-winning ones, but none is as thorough lucid and as well written as this account. This is a book that is actually about Rawanda and not a book about someone passing through Rawanda. Good job Gerard Prunier!

7 people found this helpful

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Karl Wustrack

Scholarly

Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2013

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Not an easy read, but well researched and very objective. As a Frenchman, the author was very objective concerning the French involvement in the crisis.

One person found this helpful

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Cadet

book full of lies

Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2013

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This book has nothing to do with the truth. The author is right to say that some people call him Tutsi in white skin. They are right to call him that. His negating the real genocide in which general Kagame ordered the shut down of president Habyarima plain. The author follows the official propaganda that negate the mass killing of Hutu by the Tutsi, specially by the FPR commanded by Paul Kagame. The author doesn't say a word about the bombing of Hutu refugees camps in Congo and the mass killing of Hutu (more than five hundreds) in Congo before and during the invasion of Congo in 1996.

3 people found this helpful

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kazubwengef

An excellent review of the historical and cultural tensions leading up ...

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2015

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An excellent review of the historical and cultural tensions leading up to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. This book is even more remarkable given that it was written in 1995, immediately after the catastrophe.

One person found this helpful

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H. D. Prescott, Jr.

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2017

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A teacher requested this DVD to support his class review of the issue.

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Edward B. Crutchley

“Clearing bushes” and “pulling the roots”

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 23, 2014

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Gerard Prunier explains in very readable detail the intricacies leading up to, during, and briefly after the genocide in 1994, starting with the German colonisation a hundred years before. The history is complex, there are no simple explanations except that the population of Rwanda is divided into two ethnic groups – the majority Hutus and the taller and different-looking gifted Tutsis said to have once migrated from lands further north. By 1994 the country was being run by the majority Hutus, with the danger of invasion by the Tutsi RPF from its bases in Uganda. The minority Tutsis, who happened to be in power in neighbouring Burundi, had ruled before. Now they were being largely subdued and many had fled during previous confrontations. A rapacious Hutu clique with links to President Habyaramina’s wife saw itself losing hold, firstly after the dramatic fall in price of coffee and other key commodity exports, secondly as a result of being threatened by the impending Arusha agreements that would accommodate the Tutsi opposition. They started a programme of demonising the Tutsis and those Hutus considered moderates. A combination of strong civil organisation, heavy population density, absence of places to escape to, coupled with a naturally compliant Hutu population, all favoured their message that eventually corralled Hutu communities into “bush clearing” (killing men) and “pulling out the roots” (women and children) using machetes massively imported by the government, and aided by the actions of better-armed militia and army forces. All it took was the assassination of President Habyaramina who, although providing an obstacle to Arusha, had a stabilizing effect on the situation. For geo-political reasons (the so-called ‘Fashoda complex’ - a pathological fear of encroaching Anglo-Saxon influence, in this case via the RPF links with Uganda) France was already a compliant benefactor, and its resulting unwillingness to stand up to the regime and prevent the madness constitutes a major theme in the book. Even after the massacres, and the realisation of French military personnel landed during Operation Turquoise during the later stages, that they had effectively given a hand to the perpetrators, President Mitterrand was deviously referring to a ‘double genocide’ by vastly over-exaggerating the retributions enacted by the victorious RPF whose takeover effectively brought an end to the massacres. The extraordinary aftermath included 1-2 million fleeing Hutu refugees who, even in their camps in Zaire, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi, remained under control of the same men who had pushed them into slaughter. For all that might be said against him, Tutsi President Paul Kagame has since overseen a general rise of fortunes in the country, but one wonders how easily it could all happen again. The reason for Kagame’s recent thinly-veiled attack on France during the 20th anniversary of the genocide can be understood.

2 people found this helpful

Horrific yet brilliantly written

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 12, 2004

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I take my cap off to Gerard Prunier who has written a magnificently detailed history on the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Unlike many books on Rwanda which simply read like travel guides or personal accounts, this book contains a very thorough history of Rwanda, from the the late 19th century, to the Lake Kivu crisis of 1996/97.
All important historical figures, such as the first president of an independent Rwanda, Gregiore Kayibanda through to Jean Kambanda and the leader of the Tutsi guerilla group the Rwandan Patriotic Front, Paul Kagame. There is alot of information to take in, but it is a rewarding read which is never dull for a moment throughout the book. But then again, I happen to be particularly interested in this region of Africa! :-)

6 people found this helpful

jaappe

should be read in schools

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 29, 2020

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... good book about what happened in rwanda in the 1990-ies ,and backgroundsd of it ... very cheap as 2nd book ,was in good condition ...

Kindle Customer

excellent on origins of the genocide

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 10, 2012

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Excellent account and analysis of origins of the genocide. Written in 1994 so too close to the genocide itself and to subsequent events to be scholarly about them. The author recognises this limitation.

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