Shake Hands with the Devil (book)

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Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda is a book by Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire of the Canadian Forces, with Major Brent Beardsley. Published in September 2003 by Random House Canada, it follows Dallaire’s time as Force Commander of the United Nations mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR) in 1993–1994 and his witness to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. The book won awards including the 2003 Shaughnessy Cohen Award for Political Writing and the 2004 Governor General’s Award for nonfiction. The French edition is titled J’ai serré la main du diable: La faillite de l’humanité au Rwanda.

Dallaire describes the dilemmas and atrocities he faced. After arriving in Kigali in August 1993, he warned the U.N. that he lacked enough equipment and troops, but unclear UN procedures and weak international interest left his calls for help unanswered. As the situation worsened, his forces were left with little fuel, money, or gear. Propaganda from RTLM helped incite Hutu militias to attack Tutsi people, while an exile army tried to seize power. In Kigali, civilians were killed with machetes, and many moderate politicians were murdered. More than 800,000 people died in about 100 days in 1994. The book explains the harsh realities of those events and the failures that allowed them to happen. The story inspired a 2004 documentary and a 2007 dramatic film, with Dallaire consulted in both.