On April 6th, 1994, the Rwandan genocide started when the country’s Hutu-led government issued orders for the killing of the Tutsi minority. In around 100 days nearly one million people were killed. The country’s population was decimated – in a literal sense – around one in ten of its people were left dead. Most of the killing was done by hand, with machetes or clubs, and often the killers and victims were known to each other. Having previously documented the horrors of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia the Magnum photographer Gilles Peress (Professor of Human Rights and Photography at Bard College, NY and Senior Research Fellow at the Human Rights Center, UC Berkeley) travelled to Rwanda during the genocide. His work there then became a book, The Silence, which – along with his previous title Farewell to Bosnia – forms part of Peress’ longterm project Hate Thy Brother – a photographic exploration of seemingly inescapable cycles of violence and hatred. Of the genocide in Rwanda Peress has said, “The immensity of this crime is beyond our imagination and is only surpassed by the unbelievable indifference of the West and of the developed nations who would have been able to intervene and prevent the crime…” Magnum photographer Gilles Peress, renowned for his acclaimed Farewell to Bosnia, continues his project "Hate thy brother" in this book on the class war in Rwanda. This war is one of the most brutal and inhumane occurrences of the twentieth century, but somehow the actuality of the atrocity has been virtually unnoticed by the Western world. Peress challenges every previous photo-documentary with the work in this book, and spares nothing. It is one of the most harrowing collections of photographs ever published, and it is impossible to experience it with the detachment of a historian. Peress says of the situation in Rwanda: "The immensity of this crime is beyond our imagination and is only surpassed by the unbelievable indifference of the West and the developed nations who would have been able to intervene and prevent the crime...The question raised here is if man is fundamentally good or bad, if there is a possible redemption, if there can be compassion and solidarity." As part of Peress' design for the book, the edges are dyed in black ink, making this an even more powerful object of death. Condition: Excellent condition. Small amount of wear to corners and very small yellow blemish to rear cover. Very slight ripple to book and a very small dent to top of front cover. Information insert included. Please examine listing photos carefully.