Product Description

A Thousand Hills: Rwanda′s Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It is the story of Paul Kagame, a refugee who, after a generation of exile, found his way home. Learn about President Kagame, who strives to make Rwanda the first middle–income country in Africa, in a single generation. In this adventurous tale, learn about Kagame’s early fascination with Che Guevara and James Bond, his years as an intelligence agent, his training in Cuba and the United States, the way he built his secret rebel army, his bloody rebellion, and his outsized ambitions for Rwanda.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #97806 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Review
"…tells a remarkable tale about a remarkable man." (The Economist, August 21, 2008)

Kinzer (All the Shah’s Men) has penned a hagiographic account of Rwandan president Paul Kagame, the Tutsi refugee who organized the Rwandan Military Front in 1994 and helped halt the genocide in Rwanda. Instead of settling scores, Kagame embarked on a program of reconciliation and reconstruction; Kinzer eloquently describes a physical and psychological recovery unmatched in Africa: a Rwanda whose people are "bubbling with a sense of unlimited possibility." Kagame’s goal, modeled on the successes of "Asian tigers" like Singapore, aims to transform Rwanda into the continent’s first middle–income country in a single generation, eschewing foreign aid in favor of reliance on business–driven development. Kinzer does not conceal the bloody realities behind Kagame’s acquisition of power nor does he deny Kagame’s "rigorous, absolutist approach to governing." Nevertheless, he is transparently trusting in Kagame’s capabilities and intentions, and while his eloquent prose invites optimism, a half–century of experience urges caution. (June) (Publishers Weekly, April 21, 2008)

Review
“…tells a remarkable tale about a remarkable man.”  The Economist Saturday 23 August 2008

“Stephen Kinzer recreates the battles between the RPF and the Rwandan government forces in vivid detail.”The National Thursday 10 July 2008

From the Inside Flap
In 1994, the world stood idly by as Rwanda was devastated by the most horrifying genocide since the Holocaust. Now this tiny, land–locked nation stands poised to stun the world again—but in a very different way. Killers and survi–vors have embarked on a breathtaking path toward reconciliation, and Rwanda has become one of the most promising countries in the developing world. How did this happen?

In A Thousand Hills, bestselling author Stephen Kinzer tells the dramatic story of Paul Kagame, whose rebel army stopped the genocide and whose government has turned Rwanda into a new star of Africa. Kagame grew up as a wretched refugee, shaped one of the most audacious covert operations in the history of clandestine warfare, and then emerged as a visionary leader with radical ideas about how poor countries can climb out of their misery. Whether his experiment can succeed is a question that has begun to fascinate people across Africa and beyond.

A Thousand Hills tells Kagame′s astonishing story more fully than it has ever been told before. Drawingon extensive interviews with Kagame himself and with people who knew him at every stage of his life, Kinzer recounts one of the great untold stories of modern revolution. He traces Kagame through his years as a bitterly angry student, recounts his early fascination with men of action ranging from Che Guevara to James Bond, and explains how he built a secret revolutionary army in a way no one ever had before. With the dramatic flair that has led the Washington Post to call him "among the best in foreign policy storytelling," Kinzer then traces the three–and–a–half–year war Kagame waged in the Rwandan bush—a war that stopped a genocide, changed the destiny of a nation, and set in motion one of the most exciting social and political experiments now under way anywhere in the world.

Filled with harrowing tales of guerilla warfare, heart–wrenching accounts of the genocide carried out by the government of Rwanda, and inspiring stories of how a devastated nation can reinvent itself, A Thousand Hills is powerful, moving, and deeply compelling.

Customer Reviews

Hagiography?
I've read reviews suggesting this is a hagiography, but it's not.

True, it tells the harrowing tale of post-colonial Rwanda primarily from the perspective of its remarkable but controversial president, Paul Kagame. True, it includes extensive coverage of the many idealistic outsiders who see in Kagame's Rwanda a simplistic tale of good triumphing against all odds. And I admit that I myself generally take a 'glass half full' perspective on a regime and a country that tends to polarise the opinions of interested outsiders.

But the fact that it is based on hours of one to one interviews with Kagame makes it a valuable contribution to the literature on post-genocide Rwanda. The lengthy italicised quotes from these interviews give new glimpses into the soul of the man Romeo Dallaire has called the 'Napoleon of Africa'. These glimpses are often inspiring, often ambiguous and troubling - but always fascinating. And Kinzer, particularly in his concluding chapter, is all too aware that a ruler who's got used to triumphing over improbable odds, and believing implacably in his own judgement.. can become dangerous. Especially when he stands at the helm of a young, still to be consolidated state - with few checks and balances on his will to power.

As someone who works in Kigali, I have already read a few Rwanda books. Much of this book, therefore, was familiar ground. But its story remains the most awesome and awful of our times, and bears re-reading. Added to which, this book is well-written and unique (so far) in its conception. I liked it sufficiently that I ploughed through it pretty much in one sitting.

Gain a real insight into this beautiful country, Rwanda
We've been visiting Rwanda for the past 4 years and have made many friends there and have developed a real love the country and a deep interest in it's history and its 'rebirth'. This book gives an insight to the build up to the genocide, the genocide itself, how the UN and the international community failed Rwanda, and and understanding of what is happenning now in this tiny African state. I've also learnt what drives President Paul Kagame to achieve his main objectives of eradicating poverty and safeguarding the people from another genocide, his love for his country and his reasons for his contempt for simplistic overseas views of the way Rwanda is governed. The book certainly reflects our own impressions and experiences of this country and it's people.

An exemple of courage, perseverance and integrity
This book is on Rwanda, a country often badly described. It gives us an image of its leader Paul Kagame based on his land's painfull history. A good narrative deserving a very interesting character. Full of hope regarding the entire region covering East Africa.