King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism |
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Adam Hochschild
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Pages: 356 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0330441981
Pub: Pan Books
Pub date: 2006-01-20
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 10452
Editorial Review:
Years ago, Adam Hochschild came across a reference to the "five to eight million lives" destroyed in the colonial exploitation of the Congo. Startled, he realised that this had been "one of the major killing grounds of modern times. Why were these deaths not mentioned in the standard litany of our century's horrors?" His corrective history makes sobering and gripping reading. In King Leopold of Belgium, who decided to buy himself an empire to compensate for his country's smallness, he portrays a villain of Shakespearian dimensions. Aided by Stanley (of "Mr Livingstone I Presume" fame) the king appropriated a section of central Africa the size of Western Europe as his personal territory. The appalling brutality that ensued, as Europeans plundered the country for rubber and ivory, is vividly captured by Hochschild. He manages to leaven the horror with touches of grotesque humour--for instance, when tricking tribal chiefs into signing away their land for bales of cloth, Stanley would, to impress his dupes, secrete a battery in his pocket with the wires in his palm, so that on shaking hands the chief "was greatly surprised to find his white brother so strong that he nearly knocked him off his feet". Hochschild has something of Simon Schama's gift for populist history; and among other things he provides astonishing background to Joseph Conrad's Congo-set masterpiece, Heart of Darkness. --Adam Roberts
Reader Reviews:
Leopold II: King Of The Congo, King Of Hell (2/2 people found this helpful)
This is a stunning account of Belgium's King Leopold II's rape and plunder of the Congo. His agents and officials dealt misery and death to millions of Congolese and subjugated the unfortunate natives with ferocious brutality. Meanwhile the King of the Congo (and Belgium) got fat off the staggering profits of ivory and rubber. This greedy consuming devil was master of planting friendly stories in the western press, cajoling, bribing, threatening and shouting to the world how much good he was doing in the Congo. Fortunately you can't fool all the people all the time. A group of very brave men (some who paid with their lives) soon expose the truth and hellish conditions of the the Congolese. Under severe pressure Leopold gifts (sells) the Congo to Belgium for a considerable sum. Half a century later after Belgium is forced to grant independence, the CIA assassinate the prime minister. A gruesome start for the young country.
The story is as upsetting as it is distasteful. Sad, sad, sad. The civilized shown up for their raw animism and the "uncivilized" pay the price for being behind the curve. I visited the Central Africa museum in Brussels shortly after finishing this book. It is truly frightening how the Belgians place virtually all blame on a few colluding chiefs and the competing Arab slave traders. It is said that history is written by the victors and state versions are the worst - nothing but brazen propaganda. With luck some day the Congolese will tell their own story. In the meantime, Hochschild does a wonderful job.
An emotional introduction to the history of Colonialism (0/0 people found this helpful)
I bought this book in a small dusty bookstore in an out of the way town, after reading Barbara Kingsolver's 'The Poisonwood Bible', set in the Congo and following the lives of an American Missionary and his family. I didn't imagine that I would be as moved as I have been having finished Adam Hochschild's book, and now understand so much more about the legacy of colonialism, not just in the Congo, but across the world. Sure, it's written in an easy to understand and follow format which undoubtedly skims certain events, and it's moralising tone does detract a little from other European and American atrocities elsewhere - but this leaves me with a strong desire to now seek out literature which helps me to understand the bigger picture.
I live in a British Overseas Protectorate where the roots of colonialism are still strong, and will be recommending this book to everyone here.
excellent (1/1 people found this helpful)
Not sure where some of the other reviewers are coming from on this book. It is first rate: entertaining, informative, well written. A real page turner. I live in Belgium and am familiar with some of the issues the book is concerned with, particularly the absence of any collective guilt about where so much of the money that built so many monuments actually came from. Strongly recommended if you enjoy reading and want to be educated at the same time....
Cursed with Wealth (2/2 people found this helpful)
The coldly-executed, bloody-minded exploitation of the Congo by King Leopold and his business partners is a story well-worth repeating. At times his conduct is so disgraceful as to force one to a variety of admiration. The ruthless self-interest has surely been a model for later exploiters of Africa (of whatever hue) but few can have stolen as much (once adjusted for current prices) as the King. Such a great evil summoned forth worthy opponents though at all stages they seem to have had to break through disbelief before they could get on the King's wavelength. The King's ability to understand and exploit European sentiment required his arch-opponent E.D.Morel to raise his game. This is a sorry tale, well-told by its author. However, it is really not quite as unknown as the puffery claims. Hochschild has not discovered a forgotten Holocaust, but he has kept its disgraceful memory "bright".
This should be read (5/7 people found this helpful)
This is an important book that really should be on School curriculums everywhere. If you're thinking of visiting or going to work in Africa you should read this book. It is written in an accessible and non academic way that will appeal to students and casual readers alike. A genocide almost still in living memory and but largely forgotten by the mainstream. Reading this book it helped me understand the Africa of today and how it is possible to see a direct relation between the action of the colonizers of yesterday and the mass apathy and western collusion in more recent and contemporary African genocides. However there is also a story of hope here as this book is also a exploration of how ordinary people (both black and white) came together to bring about social change.
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Other Historical Subjects -> Slavery
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Other Historical Subjects -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Countries & Regions -> Africa -> 20th Century
Books -> Subjects -> History -> Countries & Regions -> Africa -> General AAS
Books -> Subjects -> History -> General AAS
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
Books -> Refinements -> Font Size (format_browse-bin) -> Regular Size