Alison Des Forges recounts the ambitions, strategies, and intrigues of an African royal court under Yuhi Musinga, the Rwandan ruler from 1896 to 1931. Drawing on oral histories and extensive archival research, Des Forges reveals how divisions among different groups in Rwanda shaped their responses to colonial governments, missionaries, and traders. Des Forges's vividly narrated history, meticulously edited and introduced by David Newbury, provides a deep context for understanding the Rwandan civil war a century later.