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Do Not Disturb

The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad

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Do Not Disturb

By: Michela Wrong
Narrated by: Michela Wrong
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About this listen

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2022

‘Superb’ The Times

‘Engrossing and revelatory' Observer

‘Powerful, compelling and meticulously researched’ New Statesman

A new book from the award winning author of In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz,Do Not Disturb explores the controversial career of Paul Kagame and the legacy of the Rwandan genocide

Do Not Disturb is a dramatic recasting of the modern history of Africa’s Great Lakes region, an area blighted by the greatest genocide of the twentieth century. This bold retelling, vividly sourced by direct testimony from key participants, tears up the traditional script.

In the old version, an idealistic group of young rebels overthrows a genocidal regime in Kigali, ushering in an era of peace and stability that makes Rwanda the donor darling of the West, winning comparisons with Switzerland and Singapore. The new version examines afresh questions which dog the recent past: Why do so many ex-rebels scoff at official explanations of who fired the missile that killed the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi? Why didn’t the mass killings end when the rebels took control? Why did those same rebels, victory secured, turn so ruthlessly on one another?

Michela Wrong uses the story of Patrick Karegeya, once Rwanda’s head of external intelligence and a quicksilver operator of supple charm, to paint the portrait of a modern African dictatorship created in the chilling likeness of Paul Kagame, the president who sanctioned his former friend’s murder.

‘A withering assault on the murderous regime of Kagame, and a melancholy love song to the last dreams of the African Great Lakes’ John Le Carre

©2021 Michela Wrong (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Africa Freedom & Security Politicians Politics & Government War & Crisis Switzerland War
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Critic reviews

‘Superb … an epic tale of blood, bitterness and betrayal … a gripping tale’ The Times

‘She has chosen to ignore that “Do Not Disturb” sign and, in an overdue book that takes the injunction as its title, she rips off the [Rwandan] regime’s veil of respectability to expose the horrors beneath… [a] powerful, compelling and meticulously researched bookNew Statesman

Engrossing and revelatory … apart murder mystery and part sweeping history of an extended family tragedy spread over two countries, three wars, four decades and a genocide’ Observer

'[A] brave and tremendous book … [Michela Wrong] has produced a classic, her own journalistic complicity in the hollowness at the heart of power to rival Rian Malan’s My Traitor’s Heart and Gitta Sereny’s Albert Speer: His Battle with TruthSpectator

‘In this extremely important and profoundly disturbing book, Michela Wrong sets out all the miss-steps that were ignored, all the flagrant human rights abuses that were overlooked and all the criminality for which excuses were found, until the new horrors that have been visited upon that country were perpetrated.’ Archbishop Desmond Tutu, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize

A damning j’accuse on many fronts. An extraordinarily brave piece of reportingFinancial Times

Extraordinary and utterly gripping, an excoriating work of immense courage and commitment, one that will surely make waves’ Philippe Sands, author of The Ratline: Love, Lies and Justice on the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive

One of the most far-reaching historical revisions of Kagame and his regime. Meticulously researched, with substantial new material and interviewsGuardian

What listeners say about Do Not Disturb

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Excellent, thought provoking.

I have travelled and worked in Africa for many years and have visited Rwanda. Michela has done an outstanding job with this book, well researched and written and with a clear logic to the narrative she has attempted to shine a light on a leader and a party that the West has given a free pass to for far too long. In the early days of this regime it was understandable, particularly after the genocide, but some 27 years later it is time for a more critical look and more robust engagements on human rights abuses and lack of democracy. This the best book on an African country that I have listened to for some time. Highly recommended.

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Something very special

A clearly thoroughly researched and highly engaging work on how modern-day Rwanda arose. I would highly recommend to anybody interested in Rwanda, the Great Lakes region of Africa, or power more generally.

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Powerful journalism

This troubling book details the methods by which the RPF targets opponents and 'traitors'.

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Shocking and surreal

A must read for anyone interested in Rwandan and Ugandan politics and wanting to know the truth behind the Rwanda Genocide of 1994. Not the sanitized version provided by the Kgame regime.

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This book really changed my mind

An incredibly detailed and well researched book is what we expect from Michela Wrong. But she has excelled herself with this one. As well as being well as being a stomach churning account of just what happened in Rwanda under Kagame and how he got to be in the position he now is I detect that the book is also a deeply personal one. There are people that you encounter in life that you like or even love, there are some that have no effect on you. And then there are those you detest. Michela wears her heart on her sleeve in this book about both the like and lived and the detested. And in the process has convinced me that her judgements are well justified. I was one of the mugs who was so impressed by Kagame’s success in retaking Rwanda after the genocide that I, along with too many others, felt him to be a hero. And have continued thereafter to admire him from afar. Michela explains how this has been allowed to happene and how wrong we have been. A wonderful and revelatory work. I will never forget it and never forget what it has taught me. Thanks Michela. I didn’t read the Eritrea book previously but it is time to make up for that oversight now.

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such a fascinating recent history of Rwanda

I really enjoyed listening to Michela Wrong read her account of the past 20 years in Rwanda. I learnt so much that I had previously not understood. My thanks to the author

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Forensic analysis

Detailed and shocking account of the rise of a dictator and how he maintains his grip on power

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