When The Hills Ask For Your Blood: A Personal Story of Genocide and Rwanda

(Paperback)

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A moving, personal account of the Rwandan genocide by the co-writer of SHOOTING DOGS, and an introduction to Vjeko Curic, a modern-day Schindler who saved an estimated 5,000 lives. 'Tremendous. A moving and haunting tribute to the human spirit' WILLIAM BOYD Into the heart of a genocide that left a million people dead 6 April 1994- In the skies above Rwanda the president's plane is shot down in flames. Near Kigali, Jean-Pierre holds his family close, fearing for their lives as the violence escalates. In the chapel of a hillside village, missionary priest Vjeko Curic prepares to save thousands of lives The mass slaughter that follows - friends against friends, neighbours against neighbours - is one of the bloodiest chapters in history Twenty years on, BBC Newsnight producer David Belton, one of the first journalists into Rwanda, tells of the horrors he experienced at first-hand. Now following the threads of Jean-Pierre and Vjeko Curic's stories, he revisits a country still marked with blood, in search of those who survived and the legacy of those who did not. This is David Belton's quest for the limits of bravery and forgiveness.

Reviews

Tremendous. A moving and haunting tribute to the human spirit -- WILLIAM BOYD
David Belton has written something very special, a work of non-fiction that has a novels power to move, enchant and challenge. This elegantly-written book is much more than a history, a work of lyrical beauty that will stand as a memorial not just for those who died in the genocide but to those of us who struggle to make a difference. -- Tim Butcher, author of BLOOD RIVER
Complex, compassionate and scathing Much of the writing has a literary power that lifts it above normal journalistic or non-fiction practice: Jean-Pierres confinement in his mud-walled hole has shades of Beckett, and both Odette and Curic seem like Brechtian heroes. * Giles Foden *
Belton excavates the truth and layers the political, social and military dimensions of the conflict onto three peoples stories, to produce a book that is both illuminating and profoundly moving. -- Aminatta Forna * Independent *
Brings the story right up to date, confronting the dilemmas and tensions that lie not far below the surface ... * Observer *

Author Bio

David Belton worked as a producer at BBC Newsnight in the 1990s where, amongst many foreign assignments, he covered the civil war in Bosnia and the genocide in Rwanda. In 2002, he co-wrote the story and produced the award-winning feature film Shooting Dogs based on real events that had taken place during the Rwandan genocide. He has since produced and directed many critically acclaimed and award-winning documentaries for British and American television. He lives in Oxford with his family.