A People Betrayed

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Read critically - Rated
Melvern has used her links with Kagame and his current regime well, and has produced a decent account of events. However, as a result the leanings are inevitably pro-Tutsi. Even when pressed at public lectures off the back of this book the loyalty is very apparent and elements of bias must be considered when reading a retrospective of such political events.

It contains well sourced material but it should not be your only reference and interpretation of events.

A Stunning Book - Rated
I am a 14 year old, and, having not started school when this genocide occured, I was intrigued. I got this book from the library having heard a radio report about the 10th anniversary of the atrocity.

I read the book and was astounded, and, at the same time, appauled. The titanic failings of the west are uncovered in this easy to read, yet potent and serious book. A MUST READ!

Don't not buy it if you have visions of graphic depictions of massacre scenes, this fantastic piece of investigative journalism goes into more depth about the failings of western political structures, not into gore.

Buy it, read it, think about it.

Is anyone interested in Rwanda? - Rated
Probably, the story of Rwandan genocide is the most shocking international scandal of the post World War II era. The book is a brilliant reconstruction of that time, written with amazing clarity and based on well established facts.
In three months of 1994 about one million people was killed in organised genocide. The killing rate was five times faster than that achieved by the Nazis during WWII holocaust. But on the contrary to the Nazis, the Rwandan genocide happened in the full light of the international media, with the full knowledge of the UN Security Council and the Western governments.
Linda Melvern describes and documents in detail the role of the West in the genocide.
The story is so bad that almost all of the publishers in the UK refused to publish this book with comments like "the story is really too awful" or "I cannot see people forking out money to read about such an unspeakable subject..."

Do you think you can fork out some money for the truth? I think this book is certainly worth any money.

A disturbing study of how the world works: vital and moving - Rated
The Rwanda genocide is one of those news stories you think you know, and maybe think you are entitled to forget. Think again. Linda Melvern retells the story of the brutal happenings, of course, but she does much more: she sets out, ruthlessly, the responsibility of all those who felt free to judge and moralise about what happened in Rwanda, what they did not do and, even worse,what they did. Any time you hear a politician, a "statesman" preaching ethics in foreign policy, or denouncing what others do or don't do, remember this shocking and most carefully researched study of how international diplomacy really operates -- how little we've learned to move beyond particular, national interests and understand what is at risk -- and the children who die as a result.