Retired Canadian Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire will be in Guelph Saturday, Oct. 29, to read from and discuss his book Waiting For First Light: My Ongoing Battle With PTSD.
Dallaire was the man in charge of the United Nations forces in Rwanda in 1993 where internal ethnic strife led to the genocide of 800,000 people.
Waiting For First Light: My Ongoing Battle With PTSD chronicles his life since the Rwandan genocide and the post-traumatic stress disorder he has had to battle as a result of those events.
"It is a no-holds-barred self-portrait of a top political and military figure whose nights are invaded by despair, but who at first light faces the day with the renewed desire to make a difference in the world," is how the book is described by its publisher.
The event is part of the Cafe Philosophique Author Series sponsored by the University of Guelph's College of Arts, The Bookshelf and the Eden Mills Writer's Festival.
Dallaire's first book, Shake Hands With The Devil, was a first-person account of the genocide and a treatise on the failure of the international community to stop it.
His second book was called They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children.
Since his retirement Dallaire has become an outspoken advocate for human rights, mental health and war-affected children.
The event takes place at Hope House, 75 Norfolk St. at 2 p.m.
Tickets are available in advance from The Bookshelf or at the door. Cost is $8 general admission and $6 for students.
