Africa's World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental CatastropheThe Rwandan genocide sparked a horrific bloodbath that swept across sub-Saharan Africa, ultimately leading to the deaths of some four million people. In this extraordinary history of the recent wars in Central Africa, Gerard Prunier offers a gripping account of how one grisly episode laid the groundwork for a sweeping and disastrous upheaval. Prunier vividly describes the grisly aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, when some two million refugees--a third of Rwanda's population--fled to exile in Zaire in 1996. The new Rwandan regime then crossed into Zaire and attacked the refugees, slaughtering upwards of 400,000 people. The Rwandan forces then turned on Zaire's despotic President Mobutu and, with the help of a number of allied African countries, overthrew him. But as Prunier shows, the collapse of the Mobutu regime and the ascension of the corrupt and erratic Laurent-Désiré Kabila created a power vacuum that drew Rwanda, Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe, Sudan, and other African nations into an extended and chaotic war. The heart of the book documents how the whole core of the African continent became engulfed in an intractible and bloody conflict after 1998, a devastating war that only wound down following the assassination of Kabila in 2001. Prunier not only captures all this in his riveting narrative, but he also indicts the international community for its utter lack of interest in what was then the largest conflict in the world. Praise for the hardcover: "The most ambitious of several remarkable new books that reexamine the extraordinary tragedy of Congo and Central Africa since the Rwandan genocide of 1994." --New York Review of Books "One of the first books to lay bare the complex dynamic between Rwanda and Congo that has been driving this disaster." --Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times Book Review "Lucid, meticulously researched and incisive, Prunier's will likely become the standard account of this under-reported tragedy." --Publishers Weekly |
Contents
1 Rwandas mixed season of hope July 1994April 1995 | 1 |
2 From Kibeho to the attack on Zaire April 1995October 1996 | 37 |
3 The congo basin its interlopers and its onlookers | 73 |
4 Winning a virtual war September 1996May 1997 | 113 |
5 Losing the real peace May 1997August 1998 | 149 |
6 A continental war August 1998August 1999 | 181 |
7 Sinking into the quagmire August 1999January 2001 | 227 |
the wars confused ending January 2001December 2002 | 257 |
Other editions - View all
Africa's World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a ... Gerard Prunier Limited preview - 2008 |
Africa's World War:Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a ... Gerard Prunier No preview available - 2011 |
Africa's World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a ... Gérard Prunier No preview available - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
afdl angola army attack august Banyamulenge Banyarwanda BBC/SWB Bemba border Brazzaville Brussels Bukavu Burundi Burundian camps civil civilians conflict Congo congolese crisis december declared democratic diamond diplomatic economic ethnic ex-far fdlr February fighting forces foreign former France french génocidaires genocide Goma Grands Lacs guerre guerrilla Human Rights Watch humanitarian Hutu Interahamwe international community interview IRIN Bulletin irin dispatch Ituri January Joseph Kabila July June Kagame Kampala Katanga Kigali killed Kinshasa Kisangani L'Harmattan later laurent-désiré Kabila Libération lissouba luanda Lusaka March Marysse massacres Mayi Mayi military militias million mining minister Mobutu MonUc MPla Museveni north Kivu november october Paris party peace percent political Politique population President problem rcd-G rebels refugees regime Reyntjens Rwanda rwandese savimbi sendashonga september situation soldiers south african south Kivu sudanese tion troops tutsi Uganda UnHcr Unita UPdf violence Zaire Zairian Zimbabwe Zimbabwean