'In this courageous and important book, Pottier succeeds admirably in reaffirming the necessity of scholarly analysis, as enshrined in the academic monograph, to provide the basis for well-balanced and historically informed analyses of major events … Pottier provides us with an insightful description of the build-up and aftermath of Rwanda's tragic genocide and ensuing war … chapter 5 … is a brilliant example of how the detailed anthropological understandings of a culture as lived by ordinary people can provide the best basis for understanding and interpreting larger and more complex events and (mis)representations at regional, national, and international levels. This important book should be required reading for anyone - from foreign diplomats and politicians, journalists, aid and development workers to academics - committed to building a better Rwanda, and for anyone whose task requires an engagement with the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa.' Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.