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Last month Rwanda commemorated the 25th anniversary of the genocide.\xa0 Unlike the recent outpouring of books marking hundredth anniversary of the end of the First World War, there was only a short flurry of newspaper and radio remembrances of the events of April and May of 1994.\xa0 The number of book-length narratives was similarly small.\nNow Andrew Wallis has published a significant new survey of the origins and aftermath of the genocide. Stepp\u2019d in Blood:\xa0 Akazu and the Architects of the Rwandan Genocide Against the Tutsis (Zero Books, 2019), engages the deep roots of the genocide.\xa0 Wallis argues that the decision to commit genocide emerged out of a political crisis.\xa0 Their power and wealth threatened by the emergence of a multi-party political process and an RPF invasion, a small group of politicians, governmental officials and family members around\xa0 Juvenal and Agathe Habyarimana resorted to massive violence in order to secure their positions.\xa0 While the violence targeted Tutsis especially, it was essentially political in nature and in aims.\nWallis is a journalist who has written about Rwanda for decades.\xa0 He is intimately familiar with the country, its leaders and its history.\xa0 Writing for a broad audience, Wallis brings a journalist\u2019s eye and pen to his book.\xa0 His prose is full of fascinating details, quotes and images.\xa0 The many cartoons, in particular, make this book stand out.\nKelly McFall is Professor of History and Director of the Honors Program at Newman University. He\u2019s the author of four modules in the Reacting to the Past series, including The Needs of Others: Human Rights, International Organizations and Intervention in Rwanda, 1994.\n\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/genocide-studies