Through his book, Gourevitch recounts the Rwandan genocide of 1994, its aftermath, and the events that led up to it. He travels to Rwanda one year after the genocide and bears witness to the massacres by visiting sites still containing bodies. After interviewing Hutus and Tutsis from all walks of life, Gourevitch puts together a narrative grounded in personal stories. He uses this method to explain contemporary history as well. In so doing, he emphasizes the impact of identity on perceptions of events. Since Hutus were placed in refugee camps outside of Rwanda, Gourevitch travels to these countries as well. He witnesses the expulsion of Tutsis from Zaire and interviews massacre survivors. Motivated by a desire to understand what truly happened in Rwanda, Gourevitch is critical of reporting (i.e., press coverage conflated the genocide of Tutsis with the experience of Hutu refugees, which was misleading). Gourevitch uses his own observations and the stories of leaders and ordinary people alike to build an argument that the international community failed Rwandans: They failed to stop the genocide and protected the perpetrators in refugee camps.