Confronting killers with a combination of diplomacy, flatter, and deception, Paul Rusesabagina managed to shelter more than 1,200 Tutsis and moderate Hutus while homicidal mobs raged outside with machetes during the Rwandan genocide. His autobiography explores the inner life of the man in a way the film could not. Rusesabagina discusses the racial complexity within his own life - he is a Hutu married to a Tutsi - and his complete estrangement from the madness that surrounded him during the genocide. The book takes the reader inside the hotel during those 100 days, relates the anguish of those who saw loved ones hacked to pieces, and describes Rusesabagina's ambivalence at pouring the Scotch and lighting the cigars of killers in the Swimming Pool bar, even as he hid as many refugees as possible inside the guest rooms upstairs.Never-before-reported elements of the Rwandan genocide will be disclosed in this book, such as the lack of interest of the international community , and the disgraceful behavior of some of the UN peacekeeping troops, who purchased the cars of the Tutsis who had taken shelter inside the hotel.An Ordinary Man draws parallels between what happened in Rwanda with other genocides throughout history and asks the question: What causes an entire nation to go insane? It also offers an inside look at the problem of genocide and the responsibilities of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events. It concludes with an exploration of the tremendous power of words to sow hatred, but also to bring life and hope.

Auteur

Paul Rusesabagina is the former general manager of the Mille Collines Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda. In 1984, Rusesabagina became assistant general manager of the Belgian-owned Mille Collines. In November 1992, he was promoted to general manager of the nearby Diplomat Hotel. After the genocide he sought asylum in Belgium and found work driving a taxicab; he now owns a trucking company in Zambia. Tom Zoellner, 36, is an award-winning newspaper and magazine journalist. He has been a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, The Arizona Republic and the Savannah Morning News. He lives in New York.

Résumé
The autobiography of the man whose natural courage was made famous by Oscar-nominated Don Cheadle in the film Hotel Rwanda'Read this book. It will humble and inspire you' Mark Doyle, Daily Mail'He recounts the ordeal with a narrative tension worthy of a superior thriller, and the passages on the build-up to the genocide are particularly compelling ... it is quite as harrowing as you'd expect' Observer'I still don't understand why those men in the militias didn't just put a bullet in my head and execute every last person in the rooms upstairs but they didn't. I survived to tell the story, along with those I sheltered. There was nothing particularly heroic about it...'Paul Rusesabagina was an ordinary man - a quiet manager of a luxury hotel in Rwanda. But on 6 April 1994 mobs with machetes turned into cold-blooded murderers, and commenced a slaughter of 800,000 civilians in just 100 days.Rusesabagina, with incredible courage, saved the lives of 1,200 people. In this powerfully moving autobiography Rusesabagina tells his story and explores the complexity of Rwanda's history and the insanity that turned neighbours and friends into killers.