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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
dark
informative
medium-paced
Fascinating, a brutal account on how leopold extracted his wealth from the Congo. The heroes of the stories were well told without shying away from their own failings.
The books efforts to incorporate the stories from the brutalised Congolese people, with limited recorded resources, deserves praise it itself.
The books efforts to incorporate the stories from the brutalised Congolese people, with limited recorded resources, deserves praise it itself.
Een pakkende beschrijving van het Belgisch kolonialisme 'in de Congo'.
Leopold II, onze ex-koning, mag zich rekenen tot de grootste massamoordenaars in de recente geschiedenis, waaronder Hitler en Stalin. In een paar decennia heeft hij het voor mekaar gekregen om maar liefst 10 miljoen Congolezen (ongeveer 50% van de hele bevolking toen!!) te vermoorden, puur en alleen omdat hij op die manier het snelst en makkelijkst rijk kon worden. Hochschild legt in dit boek uit hoe dit tot stand is kunnen komen, hoe het is verlopen en hoe het uiteindelijk is geeïndigd.
Iedere Belg zou dit duister stukje geschiedenis van zijn land moeten kennen, maar Leopold II en zijn handlangers hebben m.b.v. censuur, manipulatie, bedreigingen, omkopingen en doofpotterij ervoor gezorgd dat er maar weinig is overgebleven van de documentatie uit die tijd. Gelukkig hebben ze niet alles kunnen wegmoffelen, en worden de wandaden stilletjes aan meer algemeen bekend.
Leopold II, onze ex-koning, mag zich rekenen tot de grootste massamoordenaars in de recente geschiedenis, waaronder Hitler en Stalin. In een paar decennia heeft hij het voor mekaar gekregen om maar liefst 10 miljoen Congolezen (ongeveer 50% van de hele bevolking toen!!) te vermoorden, puur en alleen omdat hij op die manier het snelst en makkelijkst rijk kon worden. Hochschild legt in dit boek uit hoe dit tot stand is kunnen komen, hoe het is verlopen en hoe het uiteindelijk is geeïndigd.
Iedere Belg zou dit duister stukje geschiedenis van zijn land moeten kennen, maar Leopold II en zijn handlangers hebben m.b.v. censuur, manipulatie, bedreigingen, omkopingen en doofpotterij ervoor gezorgd dat er maar weinig is overgebleven van de documentatie uit die tijd. Gelukkig hebben ze niet alles kunnen wegmoffelen, en worden de wandaden stilletjes aan meer algemeen bekend.
4.5. Devastating account of one of the least-known human rights atrocities in history: the forced labor and mass murder of Congolese people by King Leopold II of Belgium. What I wasn't expecting was the heroic resistance led by E.D. Morel, a human rights hero I'd never heard of before. It's an extraordinary story.
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
If you'd like to learn more about history of colonialism in central and western Africa, and the diamond trade, you should read this book.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
This meticulously researched history of King Leopold's colonization of area that is now the Democratic Republic of Congo is stunning in the breadth and complexity of the time period and geographical area it covers. It's a huge task, and one which had not even been attempted before Hochschild wrote this twenty years ago. The result is a dark and disturbing view of Belgian colonialism, which is made worse by the fact that it was wrapped in false concern for preserving the rights of the people it enslaved. The extent to which the Belgian government covered up the violence, abuse and exploitation was astounding to me, as were the stories of the few who gave their lives to expose what was really happening and ultimately helped bring it to a close. Hochschild's writing is impressive in its use of a wide variety of sources and its explicit discussion of the limits of a history of colonialism when there are so few African voices in the sources that remain available.
For anyone who has read Heart of Darkness and wondered what the Belgian Congo was really like, this is a great place to start. As a follow up, I'd recommend Dancing in the Glory of Monsters, which details the events that took place post-colonization and the total devastation that took place during the First and Second Congo Wars. After reading these two remarkable books, it is amazing to me how little Western history classes teach about the modern history of Congo. It's inextricably tied to American and European history and has directly led to the instability and poverty in Central Africa today.
This book has been long on my to-read list; I bought it approximately five years ago when I started my brand new job in an effort to understand more about central African history. Better late than never, but I'd like to remedy the error by continuing to learn more about African history, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. Other recommendations?
For anyone who has read Heart of Darkness and wondered what the Belgian Congo was really like, this is a great place to start. As a follow up, I'd recommend Dancing in the Glory of Monsters, which details the events that took place post-colonization and the total devastation that took place during the First and Second Congo Wars. After reading these two remarkable books, it is amazing to me how little Western history classes teach about the modern history of Congo. It's inextricably tied to American and European history and has directly led to the instability and poverty in Central Africa today.
This book has been long on my to-read list; I bought it approximately five years ago when I started my brand new job in an effort to understand more about central African history. Better late than never, but I'd like to remedy the error by continuing to learn more about African history, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. Other recommendations?
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced