Shake hands with the devil: the failure of humanity in Rwanda
Award winning fiction, Award winning non-fiction, Canadian non-fiction, History, Police and military, War
Human-narrated audio
Summary
As former head of the 1993 U.N. peacekeeping mission in Rwanda, Canadian general Dallaire's initial proposal called for 5,000 soldiers, to permit orderly elections and the return of the refugees. Nothing like this number was supplied, and the result was… an outright attempt at genocide against the Tutsis that nearly succeeded, with 800,000 dead over three months. Dallaire's argument that Rwanda-like situations are fires that can be put out with a small force if caught early enough will certainly draw debate, but the book documents in horrifying detail what happens when no serious effort is made. Explicit descriptions of violence. Winner of the 2004 Governor General's Award for Non-fiction. Canada Reads 2012. 2003.