Africas World War

The 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 Desire 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 New Read [ Africas World War ] By [ Gérard Prunier ] – kino-fada.fr I must be evenreserved than usual in my review about this book contemporary Africa is far outside my usual fields of study, and those parts which I am familiar with are not the center of attention here But with these caveats in mind this is an extremely impressive study that anyone who takes the study of sub Saharan politics seriously should investigate It is not accessible for the general reader keep a map handy, and refer to the glossaries and lists of terms In short, this volum I must be evenreserved than usual in my review about this book contemporary Africa is far outside my usual fields of study, and those parts which I am familiar with are not the center of attention here But with these caveats in mind this is an extremely impressive study that anyone who takes the study of sub Saharan politics seriously should investigate It is not accessible for the general reader keep a map handy, and refer to the glossaries and lists of terms In short, this volume is a history of what might be called the First and Second Congo Wars, from 1996 2003 For background, we h...As athan interested observer of events in the Democratic Republic of Congo, I found Gerard Prunier s Africa s World War a worthwhile if dense expression of one man s opinions about an incredibly complex chapter in the continent s history Is it rife with supposition, self serving sources, and subjective interpretation of events Certainly But that s the nature of the conflict, so readers expecting a black hat white hat cast of good guys and bad guys are going to be dismissive of the work As athan interested observer of events in the Democratic Republic of Congo, I found Gerard Prunier s Africa s World War a worthwhile if dense expression of one man s opinions about an incredibly complex chapter in the continent s history Is it rife with supposition, self serving sources, and subjective interpretation of events Certainly But that s the nature of the conflict, so readers expecting a black hat white hat cast of good guys and bad guys are going to be dismissive of the work if not outraged at the author s audacity to present it as history I suspect this is as close to an actual history of this period as we re ever going to see.What I found particularly useful was Prunier s run down...I m not sure who I am madder at, the librarian who recommended this book or the author for making his life s work, his magnum opus, so darn hard to read Unless you have a working knowledge of Africa, you are starting out behind the mark Quick name the capital of Angola If you cannot do that, his reference to Luanda, as if I know what he is talking about, leave me wondering, is that Angola s capital or Namibia s but the whole reference to Luanda, is not just a reference to a location, it is I m not sure who I am madder at, the librarian who recommended this book or the author for making his life s work, his magnum opus, so darn hard to read Unless you have a working knowledge of Africa, you are starting out behind the mark Quick name the capital of Angola If you cannot do that, his reference to Luanda, as if I know what he is talking about, leave me wondering, is that Angola s capital or Namibia s but the whole reference to Luanda, is not just a reference to a location, it is to the nuance of what Luanda means in the whole scheme of African politics which I do not know I felt through most of this book that I had no idea what he was talking about or what was going on.But beyond that, it gets even worse The book starts with a glossary of abbreviations that he uses throughout the book to identify different parties, starting in the A s with t...Gerard s Prunier s book does not just portray the anxieties that created the war in Congo, but delves into the anxieties about how the war is portrayed This war was so multifaceted and complex, that keeping track of the various factions isdemanding than trying to follow the Lebanese civil war of the 1970 s and 80 s.Towards the end of the book, Prunier explains his own metamorphosis from being an admirer of the RPF Rwandan Patriotic Front the Tutsi rebel group that overthrew the Hutu gove Gerard s Prunier s book does not just portray the anxieties that created the war in Congo, but delves into the anxieties about how the war is portrayed This war was so multifaceted and complex, that...Africa s World War Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe, is a fascinating book on the chaos of Africa s First World War , written by Gerard Prunier This book is no walk in the park, and for various reasons The subject matter is extremely disturbing, as the collapse of Zaire is attributed to the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide in the early 90 s, which was itself responsible for the deaths of up to a million people This is just the start of the conflict Africa s World War Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe, is a fascinating book on the chaos of Africa s First World War , written by Gerard Prunier This book is no walk in the park, and for various reasons The subject matter is extremely disturbing, as the collapse of Zaire is attributed to the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide in the early 90 s, which was itself responsible for the deaths of up to a million people This is just the start of the conflict The competing interests of various state and parastatal actors can range from disturbing to absurd Competing factions include, on one side, Angola, looking to curb its own internal civil war, Zimbabwe, looking to compete with South Africa for mineral riches in the DRC, Libya and Chad, pan Africanists...Africa s World war is an excellent, in depth and well researched study of the war in the Congo The book begins with the immediate aftermath of the rwandan genocide of 1994 and explains the events which led to the conflagration This conflict was labelled as africa s first world war and was the biggest conflict on the continent since WWII, claiming 4 million lives.This is an impressive book With about 100 pages of footnotes, and a 45 page bibliography, this is a very thorough study of a very co Afri...This book has taken on a ripped from the headlines timeliness since the very recent leak of a UN investigation into the war in the Congo between 1996 and 1998 which concluded that the Rwandan military was guilty of war crimes and possible genocide against Hutu refugees Since the genocide perpetrated by the Hutu against the Tutsi people in Rwanda in 1994 Paul Kagame has used the pusillanimous behavior of the UN, the United States and Western Europe to demand that the...Wow What a mess This book is a very detailed account of the most probably biggest African conflict a war fought among foreigners on the Congolese land for often unrelated interests and reasons Starting with the aftermaths of the Rwandan genocide, Prunier covers the events till the 2008 Although the situation is extremely intricate during your reading you can probably get lost in a war bush somewhere in the Congo basin or drown in the river of words of a western diplomat , the author man Wow What a mess This book is a very detailed account of the most probably biggest African conflict a war fought among foreigners on the Congolese land for often unrelated interests and reasons Starting with the aftermaths of the Rwandan genocide, Prunier covers the events till the 2008 Although the situation is extremely intricate during your reading you can probably get lost in a war bush somewhere in the Congo basin or drown in the river of words of a western diplomat , the author manages to g...You ll need to hit the ground running with this one.I suspect the vast majority of Americans are going to have approximately the same amount of knowledge as I did concerning the two Congolese wars fought in the 90s and early 2000s, which is practically nothing Embarrassingly little, especially for someone who considers himself at least somewhat informed about the world, as I do and this lack of attention from the rest of the world is something author G rard Prunier sadly laments but seems resi You ll need to hit the ground running with this one.I suspect the vast majority of Americans are going to have approximately the same amount of knowledge as I did concerning the two Congolese wars fought in the 90s and early 2000s, which is practically nothing Embarrassingly little, especially for someone who considers himself at least somewhat informed about the world, as I do and this lack of attention from the rest of the world is something author G rard Prunier sadly lament...A wide scope introduction to the aftermath of the Rwanda genocide and the near decade of war in its aftermath Let s remember the Congo Wars involved a shifting cast of international players Congo Zaire, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Angola, Sudan, Tanzania, and Namibia, plus the UN, the US, France, and a host of NGOs plus a bewildering array of militias, political parties, ethnic tribal movements, and governments in exile The cost of the Congo Wars in the decade after 1996 may have been as man A wide scope introduction to the aftermath of the Rwanda genocide and the near decade of war in its aftermath Let s remember the Congo Wars involved a shifting cast of international players Congo Zaire, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Angola, Su...

• English
• 13 June 2017
Gérard Prunier
• Hardcover
• 529 pages
• 0195374207
• Gérard Prunier
• Africas World War