1
of
1
Shake Hands With The Devil
The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 13,677 ratings, 864 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3699
Unit price
/
Unavailable
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY
Found a better price? Request a price match
Shake Hands With The Devil
$3699
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Thirteen months after Lt-Gen Romeo went to serve as force commander of the UN intervention in Rwanda in 1993, he flew home broken, disillusioned and suicidal, having witnessed the slaughter of 800,000 Rwandans. This book takes us on a return voyage into the hell of Rwanda, recreating the events the international community turned its back on.
The #1 international bestseller -- chosen as Nonfiction Book of the Year and winner of the Shaughnessy-Cohen prize. A harrowing and ultimately redemptive memoir by the General who commanded the UN forces in Rwanda.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
When Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire received the call to serve as the force commander for the UN mission in Rwanda, he expected to mediate peace between two warring factions. Instead, he found himself in the midst of one of the most horrifying genocides of the 20th century. Shake Hands with the Devil is not just a memoir; it is an unflinching recount of the atrocities that unfolded during the Rwandan Civil War, where over 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were systematically slaughtered within 100 days.
Dallaire's narration plunges readers into the heart of Rwandaβs chaos, where the thin line between life and death became a daily reality. He and his small contingent of under-resourced international troops faced unimaginable challenges, from insufficient manpower to the constant refusal of essential operational freedom by complacent bureaucrats. The book reveals the profound human spirit amid overwhelming despair and captures the haunting memories that accompanied Dallaire long after he left Rwanda a broken and disillusioned man.
Shake Hands with the Devil stands as a critically acclaimed piece of war literature and a powerful indictment of global apathy in the face of genocide. Dallaireβs insights lay bare the failures of international governance and highlight his call to humanity for swift and unified action in preventing such atrocities from ever occurring again. His poignant reflections resonate deeply: "I know there is a God," he writes, "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."
This book is a crucial read for anyone interested in modern history, military ethics, international relations, and the psychological impacts of conflict. Dallaire's story is not just about the past; it serves as a lasting reminder of the humanitarian responsibilities we share as a global community.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Shake Hands With The Devil is described as a heart-breaking eye-witness account and personal confession of the failure of an organisation, marked by a meticulous description of one of history's worst betrayals. It is praised as the best account of the Rwandan genocide, serving as both an important historical record and an impassioned plea against the moral cowardice of the time.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780099478935
Publisher: Cornerstone
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 03 February 2005
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Arrow Books Ltd
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 38.0mm
Width: 138.0mm
Height: 197.0mm
Weight: 410g
Pages: 592
About the Author
Romeo Dallaire joined the Canadian Army in 1964. A three star General, he served as Deputy Commander of the Canadian Army and later in the Ministry of Defence. In 1993 he was sent to Rwanda on a UN peace-helping mission; he was soon struggling to prevent one of modern history's most shocking events and the UN's famous failed mission- the genocide in Rwanda. General Dallaire was medically released from the armed forces in April 2000 due to posttraumatic stress disorder and is now special adviser to the Canadian government on war-affected children and the prohibition of small arms distribution. In January 2002, he received the inaugural Aegis Award for Genocide Prevention in London. The Rwandan genocide is one of the most shocking examples of political exploitation and ethnic cleansing in living memory. It has been immortalised in the films Hotel Rwanda and Shooting Dogs, and here in the words of a seasoned soldier.
Also by Romeo Dallaire
View all-
Shake Hands with the Devil
Shake Hands with the Devil is a haunting memoir by Lieutenant-General RomΓ©o Dallaire, offering a gripping account of his harrowing experience during the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. Tasked with leading the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), Dallaire quickly discovered that his role was not merely to mediate between two factions seeking peace but to confront an unimaginable horror,...Paperback$5600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
More from History & Military
View all-
Saving Elli
One child. Two years in hiding. Three lives in mortal danger. In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, near Anne Frank's house, another Jewish girl is hidden. Her name is Elli. Her father has been executed at Mauthausen concentration camp. Her mother is fleeing for her life. Elli is next. To save her, resistance couple Frits and Jo Hakkens must risk everything, concealing her...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Spy and the Traitor
The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre is a spellbinding Cold War thriller that unravels the true story of Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB double agent who risked everything to aid the British in the battle against Soviet oppression. In meticulously researched detail, Macintyre paints a vivid portrait of espionage, double-crossing, and unparalleled bravery, giving readers a riveting glimpse into...Paperback$2100Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseSuicidal Empathy
The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...Paperback$3099Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Man's Search For Meaning
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a profound, thought-provoking memoir and psychological exploration that delves into the harrowing experiences of life in Nazi concentration camps, intertwined with the authorβs groundbreaking theories on existential psychology. The book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, offering a beacon of hope and a roadmap for finding purpose...Paperback$1800Elsewhere:$2100Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Betrayal
βTom Bower is the Inspector Morse of investigative biographers, a fluent, phlegmatic storyteller and a master of intricacies.β Sunday Times The British Crown is in crisis, with constitutional threats at home and abroad. At a landmark moment in royal history, can King Charles overcome the scandals that blight the Royal family? Can the broken bonds between the Houses of Sussex...Paperback$3499Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Chief and the Empire
The Chief and the Empire uncovers the extraordinary true tale of Te Tai Tokerau rangatira Te Pahi - the first influential MΔori leader to cross the Tasman - whose curiosity about the PΔkehΔ world forged alliances, saved lives, and ultimately cost him his own. On a visit to Sydney in 1805, Te Pahi was feted as a celebrity, building close...Paperback$3200Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Discipline
Silence is complicity, but how do we confront the cost of speaking up? Sydney, May 2021. Ashraf is an academic whose career and personal life are in freefall. Hannah is a young journalist struggling to honour the voices of her community. When a Year 12 Al-Bayinnah College student is arrested for protesting a university's ties to an Israeli weapons manufacturer,...Paperback$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Shattered Lands
'A sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian' β PETER FRANKOPAN 'This book is a revelation β¦ both original and important' β MISHAL HUSAIN A history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it. As recently as 1928, a vast swathe of Asia β India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and...Paperback$3699Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Goliathβs Curse
Goliathβs Curse by Luke Kemp offers a radical retelling of human history through the lens of collapse, delving into what this means for our uncertain future. This narrative spans from the dawn of our species to the urgent existential threats of the twenty-first century and beyond. It's grounded in the latest research and a comprehensive database of more than 440...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseThe Good Settler
βWhere once I saw a view as I drove around the Taranaki coast along State Highway 45, I now see confiscated land from an invasion road. The creation story I used to subscribe to, the one in which hard-working people came here and settled the land, now jars. Weirdly, even the lawn looks different. The form of things just wonβt...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Banjara
A powerful literary debut from an astonishing new Kiwi voice, focusing on the Indo-Fijian indenture system and how it affected generations across the Pacific.Rajasthan 1888: Avani Rathod, a nomad of the Banjara community, is summoned to teach a blue-eyed colonial officer the trees of her region, but instead is misled into indenture to the sugarcane plantations of Fiji. While on...Paperback$3099Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
This Way Up
The debut book from the YouTube sensation and all-round cartographical nerds, The Map Men! In their long-awaited debut, YouTubeβs Map Men bring their highly infectious enthusiasm for everything map-related to the printed page for the very first time, in a brilliantly entertaining and eye-catching tome. Packed with humour and fascinating facts, This Way Up takes a deep dive into the...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
