Do Not Disturb

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

By: Michela Wrong

Narrated by: Michela Wrong

Length: 18 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's Summary

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2022

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.

©2021 Michela Wrong (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic Reviews

"A withering assault on the murderous regime of Kagame, and a melancholy love song to the last dreams of the African Great Lakes...very driven, very impassioned." (John Le Carre)

"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. Ms Wrong is not suggesting that we become Afro-pessimists but telling us that not only is the price of freedom eternal vigilance, but also that we must, in the words of Amilcar Cabral, 'tell no lies, claim no easy victories.'" (Archbishop Desmond Tutu, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize)

"One of the most far-reaching historical revisions of Kagame and his regime. Meticulously researched, with substantial new material and interviews." (Guardian)

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.

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

Forensic analysis

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

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.

Powerful journalism

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