In the beginning of The Dynamics of Violence in Central Africa, René Lemarchand reminds us that ‘convenient though it is to speak of the crisis in the Great Lakes in the singular, it makes more sense to think in terms of a multiplicity of crises, which, though historically distinct and occurring in specific national contexts, have set off violent chain reactions in neighboring states’ (p. 4). Indeed, the intertwined and long-running conflicts in the Great Lakes region must be among the most complicated and least studied in the world, and few are the scholars who master both the intra- and inter-national relations in the region. Lemarchand is one of those few. His clarity of style makes the history of Rwanda, Burundi and the Congo accessible to non-specialists, while specialists will find new insights in this deep and complex analysis.

Only a small number of the numerous important contributions can be mentioned here. In Chapter 6, which will be of particular importance for governmental and non-governmental organisations that promote development and democracy, Lemarchand reminds the reader that the Rwandan government has a dark underside that is rarely portrayed in Western media. If Chapter 7 discusses the politics of memory of the Rwandan genocide, Chapter 6 underlines the politics of forgetting which has served to obscure the violence committed by the RPF and the repression of the Kagame regime. Likewise, Chapter 11, on the endangered democratic transition in Burundi, provides a timely warning about the prospects for renewed instability. Lemarchand identifies several risks, including government corruption, the tense relationship between civil society and government, and the potential for the mostly recently demobilised rebel group, the FNL, to become a spoiler, despite the ceasefire. These did indeed become the flashpoints in the lead-up to and aftermath of the summer 2010 elections. Unfortunately, the situation in Burundi is rapidly deteriorating, and the international community would do well to heed Lemarchand's recommendations, such as the need to explore the possibility of conditioning aid on government transparency and accountability.

Perhaps the most important contributions for non-specialists will be Chapters 12–16, which analyse the past and present conflicts in the Congo. As Lemarchand points out in the introduction, the Rwandan genocide is still commonly considered the worst violence in the region, despite the fact that the Congo conflicts have lasted many more years and cost many more lives. Lemarchand reminds the reader that the usual portrayal of the violence in the Congo as attributable solely to greed or ancient hatreds does not take into account the complexity of the conflicts, which cannot be explained by a single cause.

This book is a welcome compilation of many of Lemarchand's previous writings, which have sometimes been hard to track down, with one new chapter each on Rwanda and Burundi and three new chapters on the Congo. Astutely navigating politically charged waters, in The Dynamics of Violence in Central Africa Lemarchand succeeds in providing a general overview without losing nuance. This book will be essential reading for students of African politics and interested observers of the Great Lakes Region.