Michela Wrong
Michela Wrong is a British Italian journalist and author who has written extensively about Africa. Her book about the rise and fall of Mobutu, In the Footsteps of Kurtz, won a PEN prize for nonfiction.
Books by Michela Wrong
Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad
by Michela Wrong
“Do Not Disturb is a study of power. It’s about how it is exercised by a very particular group of people, led by Paul Kagame, in Rwanda. It’s about the Tutsis who were exiled in Uganda and then invaded Rwanda at the time of the Tutsi massacres and took over the country. She tells the story of how these extraordinarily able politicians turned on themselves, killing opponents both Hutu and Tutsi, and yet, at the same time, remain the darlings of the international media, international donors, and Western powers more generally.
She tells much of the story through the life and actions of the intelligence chief of Rwanda for many years, who was murdered by the Kagame regime in a hotel room in South Africa. It’s a remarkable study of systematic mendacity in politics and of the exercise of power in general so that although it’s closely tied to the particular case of Rwanda, it is also very much a story of modern global politics. It is a study in repression, of the nature of secret services. It is also a study of multiple differentiations and how they affect politics: ethnic differences, those between pastoralists and farmers, Protestants and Catholics, anglophones and francophones, and the politics of the left and national liberation movements.
It’s also relevant now because we have a British government program of sending migrants to Rwanda. The Kagame regime is essentially going to make money out of taking on responsibility for these migrants.”
Interviews with Michela Wrong
The best books on Africa, recommended by Michela Wrong
Long-time foreign correspondent Michela Wrong, the author of books on Zaire, Eritrea, Kenya and Rwanda, tells us where to turn for engaging foreign perspectives on Africa. She recommends five of her favourite books on Africa, by anthropologists, journalists and one US president.
Interviews where books by Michela Wrong were recommended
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1
My Fourth Time, We Drowned
by Sally Hayden -
2
Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad
by Michela Wrong -
3
Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy
by Adam Tooze -
4
Orwell's Roses
by Rebecca Solnit -
5
Things I Have Withheld
by Kei Miller -
6
The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity
by David Graeber & David Wengrow
The Best Politics Books: the 2022 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, recommended by David Edgerton
The Best Politics Books: the 2022 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, recommended by David Edgerton
From the dawn of humanity to the Covid crisis, from a study in power to the plight of the powerless, the Orwell Prize for Political Writing looks for books that break through the mendacities of politics and rise to the challenge of our times, explains historian David Edgerton, chair of this year’s judging panel. He talks us through the ten fabulous books that made the 2022 shortlist.
