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Shake Hands With the Devil
Shake Hands With the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda | Romeo Dallaire
9 posts | 8 read | 2 reading | 8 to read
On the tenth anniversary of the date that UN peacekeepers landed in Rwanda, Random House Canada is proud to publish the unforgettable first-hand account of the genocide by the man who led the UN mission. Digging deep into shattering memories, General Dallaire has written a powerful story of betrayal, navet, racism and international politics. His message is simple and undeniable: Never again.When Lt-Gen. Romo Dallaire received the call to serve as force commander of the UN intervention in Rwanda in 1993, he thought he was heading off on a modest and straightforward peacekeeping mission. Thirteen months later he flew home from Africa, broken, disillusioned and suicidal, having witnessed the slaughter of 800,000 Rwandans in only a hundred days. In Shake Hands with the Devil, he takes the reader with him on a return voyage into the hell of Rwanda, vividly recreating the events the international community turned its back on. This book is an unsparing eyewitness account of the failure by humanity to stop the genocide, despite timely warnings.Woven through the story of this disastrous mission is Dallaires own journey from confident Cold Warrior, to devastated UN commander, to retired general engaged in a painful struggle to find a measure of peace, reconciliation and hope. This book is General Dallaires personal account of his conversion from a man certain of his worth and secure in his assumptions to a man conscious of his own weaknesses and failures and critical of the institutions hed relied on. It might not sit easily with standard ideas of military leadership, but understanding what happened to General Dallaire and his mission to Rwanda is crucial to understanding the moral minefields our peacekeepers are forced to negotiate when we ask them to step into the worlds dirty wars.Excerpt from Shake Hands with the DevilMy story is not a strictly military account nor a clinical, academic study of the breakdown of Rwanda. It is not a simplistic indictment of the many failures of the UN as a force for peace in the world. It is not a story of heroes and villains, although such a work could easily be written. This book is a cri de coeur for the slaughtered thousands, a tribute to the souls hacked apart by machetes because of their supposed difference from those who sought to hang on to power. . . . This book is the account of a few humans who were entrusted with the role of helping others taste the fruits of peace. Instead, we watched as the devil took control of paradise on earth and fed on the blood of the people we were supposed to protect.From the Hardcover edition.
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JennF13
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Certainly a difficult read at many points but something so worth reading. Well written and so very unique - almost everyone deserted Rwanda so of course there aren‘t any other books out there quite like this one!! Aside from a great book, it also makes me very proud to be Canadian.

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Itchyfeetreader
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Suet624 This sounds intense! 4y
ShelleyBooksie I've wanted to read this for years 4y
Itchyfeetreader @ShelleyBooksie not an easy read but incredibly powerful. 4y
45 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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LibraryCin
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1. Shake hands with the devil
2. Westerns
3. 3 cats. Io, Kells, Lainey
4. 1.3ish million, i think.

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Purpleness
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drokka This is such a tough read. 🙏 6y
58 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Purpleness
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Purpleness
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I was shunned not for who I was but for who I was assumed to be

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TheKidUpstairs

#bookishconfession

I totally creep on people who stop by my Little Free Library.

I live in a small town with a large retired population, so the visitors skew towards an older crowd.

I just had my first teenage visitor. He was there for a while, looking through the selection. Ended up with Romeo Dallaire's memoir Shake Hands with the Devil. Kudos to him for being willing to dive into such difficult material.

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GoneFishing

I know there is a God because in Rwanda I shook hands with the devil. I have seen him, I have smelled him and I have touched him. I know the devil exists and therefore I know there is a God.