Turner's book is the first monograph in English on the wars that unfolded in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1996 and 2003. After an introductory chapter (‘Half a Holocaust’), the first two chapters provide a contextual analysis of Congo's long history of economic pillage, and images and ideologies in the Congo wars, with a focus on Rwanda's relations with Congo. Chapters four and five offer case studies on the war in South and North Kivu. The sixth chapter examines the role of the international community in Congo, notably the United Nations, and the final chapter looks at the processes that followed the official end of the war in 2003, concluding with a brief outlook on post-election Congo. The annex contains a useful war chronology that covers the period from April 1994, the start of the Rwandan genocide, to October 2006, when the second round of Congo's presidential ‘post-conflict’ elections took place.

The book is a descriptive synthesis of the wars, relying primarily on already published material written by scholars, local and international organisations, and journalists. Its strength is its historically informed approach. A long-standing student of Congolese politics, Turner generally succeeds in providing the historical and political context that informs the behaviour of actors in the Congo and neighbouring states. The weakness of the book is its lack of an analytical framework. In the introductory chapter, Turner briefly discusses a variety of possible approaches, but is reluctant to opt for one. Perhaps this is not even possible or desirable. But as a result, the many interesting observations made by the author come at the expense of the larger picture. The book also suffers from a number of imbalances that could have been avoided through careful editing. A number of events are described in great detail (e.g. the victims of a killing included a fish- seller and a pastor, p. 94), and over many pages (e.g. the crisis in Kanyabayonga in 2004, pp. 133ff.), whereas more important events and questions receive shorter treatment, such as, for example, local conflicts over resources, including land, the military trajectory of the second war, and the relationship between the Congolese rebel movements and their external backers.

Despite these weaknesses, Turner offers a sober and well-informed account of the origins and consequences of Congo's conflicts, and a much needed contribution to an otherwise poorly understood conflict.