A sobering study of the troubled African nation both pre- and post-genocide and its uncertain
future The brutal civil war between Hutu and Tutsi factions in Rwanda ended in 1994 when the
Rwandan Patriotic Front came to power and embarked on an ambitious social political and
economic project to remake the devastated central-east African nation. Susan Thomson who
witnessed the hostilities firsthand has written a provocative modern history of the country
its rulers and its people covering the years prior to during and following the genocidal
conflict. Thomson's hard-hitting analysis explores the key political events that led to the
ascendance of the Rwandan Patriotic Front and its leader President Paul Kagame. This important
and controversial study examines the country's transition from war to reconciliation from the
perspective of ordinary Rwandan citizens Tutsi and Hutu alike and raises serious questions
about the stability of the current peace the methods and motivations of the ruling regime and
its troubling ties to the past and the likelihood of a genocide-free future.
