We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families

by Philip Gourevitch

First published 1998

When the Rwandan government calls on Hutus to slaughter Tutsis, 800,000 people are killed in just 100 days. A Tutsi pastor's letter to his Hutu church president, containing the phrase "we will be killed with our families," frames this unflinching account of the genocide's horror and aftermath. Intimate portraits show Rwandans coping with displacement, revenge, and the daunting challenge of forging a cohesive society from perpetrators and victims.

Genres: history, 20th-century, african-literature, non-fiction, 21st-century, africa

Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking

Tropes: social-justice, true-story

Setting: Rwanda

Period: Civil War, 1994

356 pages · Paperback · Picador

Content warnings: death, violence

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