Visiting Rwanda one year after the genocide of 1994, Philip Gourevitch seeks to understand how the country copes in its aftermath—with evidence of the horrific event remaining in the form of dead bodies at massacre sites. Interviewing Tutsi survivors such as Odette Nyiramilimo and Bonaventure Nyibizi, Gourevitch tells the story of the genocide. The use of such narratives provides the reader with personal accounts, ensuring the emotions of victims are not lost to statistics.

Providing historical context, Gourevitch describes the politics that led to the genocide. German and Belgian colonizers racialized the occupational division between Hutus and Tutsis, which was previously porous. Favoring the Tutsi minority and oppressively ruling through them, the Belgians in particular caused Hutus to resent Tutsis. Years prior to Rwanda gaining independence in 1962, Hutus, who made up 85 percent of the population, took control of the government and sought revenge against Tutsis. A Hutu dictatorship was established that denied Tutsis their rights and economic opportunities. Through Odette’s life story, Gourevitch documents the first attempt at genocide; there were several instances of mass slaughter and expulsion of Tutsis prior to 1994.