We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories From Rwanda (Bestselling Backlist)

I was late to read this book on Rwanda, having read many others first.
This one is written so beautifully that you enjoy reading sentences
just because of the way they are put together.
I will look for anything else written by this author now just because
of his gift for writing.
After that, this is the best book I have read on Rwanda and the most
comprehensive.
I didn't find it to be stories so much as the written result of his
post-genocide investigation.
I am completing this book now and am grateful that this author chose
to share his gift with us all.

You will have a remarkably better understanding of the Rwandan genocide after you read this book. Gourevitch has done humanity a great service with this fine piece of investigative journalism. The book could have been called "The Slaughter: 100 Days of Hutu Power", but it goes beyond the killing. It successfully puts the puzzle together by looking at the ignition points, outlining the historical context of Rwandan society, debunking the misconceptions, and fingering the enablers. The book also explains various mopping-up efforts and events in the aftermath of genocide, and illuminates the subsequent (and still significant) situation across the border in the eastern Congo.

The abatement of genocide, its causes and consequences, and finding justice afterwards continues to humble the better angels of humankind. Like Bosnia and Darfur, Rwanda illustrates the abysmal results of misguided policies and half-hearted efforts put forth by powerful nations (like the US and France) and international organizations (like the UN). The subject is enormous and will probably surface again in our ever more crowded and cranky world. If we could only nip it in the bud. If not, we will ultimately come face to face with the gruesome monster again.

If you are interested in this horrific subject, I also suggest reading these books:
The impotent UN: Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda
Treatise on genocide: A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide (P.S.)
Bosnia torn apart: Love Thy Neighbor: A Story of War

Very difficult book to review, at least for me. Difficult subject. Gourevitch keeps an excellent balance between the personal stories and the political context of the Rwandan massacre. He provides sympathetic and balanced commentary as to the root causes-- unpeeling them like an onion rather than pointing fingers.

Can you say well done about a book like this? Important to read, in any case. The world failed once as a witness. Read as a companion to The Key to My Neighbor's House.

The first time I saw this book, I was so lazy to pick it up because I thought it was too long. Fortunately, I came across an audio version in my local library. This is the best account of events in Rwanda on issues surrounding the genocide. There have been stories written about personal experiences which I have read but nothing beats Gourevitch's description of events in the country.

"We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our Families" by Phillip Gourevitch shares several personal stories from the survivors of the Rwandan genocide and should be required reading for students of political conflict. In Rwanda, no one Hutu or Tutsi were immune from the blade of a machete or the barrel of a gun, in a mad, hatred driven quest for blood and power. Then once a person has killed a few times they become conditioned to kill and they become machines of murder that will kill anything that steps in their path including brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, even their own children if need be. In Rwanda, death was around every corner and had penetrated every aspect of Rwandan life. Gourevitch provides the reader with a moving and engaging account of the costs of genocide from the eyes of survivors of the bloodbath in Rwanda.