Amidst the chaos, armed rebellion, killings, and cold war threats that followed independence from Belgium in 1960, Kivu was for the most part spared for a brief year or two. It was a "little paradise" as strife and disorder drew ever nearer. Frederic Hunter sketches local characters, both whimsical and profound, probes the inanities of US Foreign Policy, and paints the darkness gathering beyond Kivu, forces that would inevitably overwhelm this quaint, quirky realm of hope and humanity.