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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
Required reading for any history buff, this massive tragedy continues to have implications that reverberate across the world to this day. Far too little is taught about King Leopold's decimation of the Congolese people and natural resources, and this book does an excellent job providing thoughtful and detailed context. A great companion to 2022's "Cobalt Red", which discusses the similar denigration of the Congolese in the rush by big tech to obtain cobalt for lithium ion batteries. History repeating itself in the worst way.
verplichte kost voor iedere Belg en voor iedereen die nadenkt over de Westerse 'beschaving' .
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Not a history book but a Story as the author calls it!
This is a story of a genocidal man lived in Europe who tried and succeeded bringing misery and horror to the people of Congo for decades and the story of some other individuals confronting him. But this is not a history book, analyzing confronting powers and their interests in the matter.
If you are not familiar with the history of Congo it is a good read but i'm trying to understand more about the economical and political forces shaped the last decades of the colonial era. On the contrary this was more focused on some individual europeans (and a single black man) who went from being regular people to be "Human right activists" and helped to took Congo away from Leopold.
According to this book, Africans had no role and did nothing but some magic and time to time uprising (meant to defeat) against Leopold.
Also the author pictures US and UK very innocent! sure the author mentions death of indian people under the British or mention slavery in the USA and the horror they brought for indigenous people but in the end the picture it paints of USA is like "Leopold tricked them and when they find out about the misery of black people of Congo they refused to cooperate with him. though sometime in the future they killed Lomomba and set a new king/dictator for Congo".
But there are some truly amazing things in these kind of historical stories from American writers. Tough Soviet Union had nothing to do in colonising and exploiting Africa, Hochschild does not forget to mention Soviet Union as a real villain (on the level of Leopold) 12 times in a 450 page book! WOW! for a person living under an undemocratic state in the middle east, it seems to me the publishing industry in the US is so damn harsh and unforgiving to anyone not considering the Soviet Union and the eastern block as villains, that authors are forced to randomly put some "soviet bad. very bad."-theme sentences in their work so they can publish and sell books. What a Leopoldian way of censorship!
This is a story of a genocidal man lived in Europe who tried and succeeded bringing misery and horror to the people of Congo for decades and the story of some other individuals confronting him. But this is not a history book, analyzing confronting powers and their interests in the matter.
If you are not familiar with the history of Congo it is a good read but i'm trying to understand more about the economical and political forces shaped the last decades of the colonial era. On the contrary this was more focused on some individual europeans (and a single black man) who went from being regular people to be "Human right activists" and helped to took Congo away from Leopold.
According to this book, Africans had no role and did nothing but some magic and time to time uprising (meant to defeat) against Leopold.
Also the author pictures US and UK very innocent! sure the author mentions death of indian people under the British or mention slavery in the USA and the horror they brought for indigenous people but in the end the picture it paints of USA is like "Leopold tricked them and when they find out about the misery of black people of Congo they refused to cooperate with him. though sometime in the future they killed Lomomba and set a new king/dictator for Congo".
But there are some truly amazing things in these kind of historical stories from American writers. Tough Soviet Union had nothing to do in colonising and exploiting Africa, Hochschild does not forget to mention Soviet Union as a real villain (on the level of Leopold) 12 times in a 450 page book! WOW! for a person living under an undemocratic state in the middle east, it seems to me the publishing industry in the US is so damn harsh and unforgiving to anyone not considering the Soviet Union and the eastern block as villains, that authors are forced to randomly put some "soviet bad. very bad."-theme sentences in their work so they can publish and sell books. What a Leopoldian way of censorship!
dark
informative
medium-paced
Growing up in America, I learned very little about European history, and absolutely nothing about African history. So I wasn’t surprised by how much I learned (a ton) while reading this book, but what did surprise me is how relevant much of this book is more than 100 years after these events occurred. Will be recommending widely.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
Devastating but necessary read. Not sure I’ve ever highlighted so many passages in a book before. In the shadow of the declining empire in which I reside, it seems to me that societies with colonial histories like these are irredeemable. I’m writing this on a phone that couldn’t exist without mines in the Congo and elsewhere. I don’t know. I don’t know how people think their way out of historical realities like these or god forbid twist them into something good or necessary or unavoidable.
The world is so often bent and shaped to the will of heartless men. The crusaders detailed in the book were indeed brave and ahead of their time in some aspects, but it’s hard to see in the face of such enduring devastation.
One of the most striking bits to me considering the current state of the world is how “civilized” societies proclaim their civility with such force, decry the savagery of others, and then ship a stunning number of listless, lost, and mediocre men overseas where they indulge in the same or even worse cruelty and savagery as they accuse others of.
The world is so often bent and shaped to the will of heartless men. The crusaders detailed in the book were indeed brave and ahead of their time in some aspects, but it’s hard to see in the face of such enduring devastation.
One of the most striking bits to me considering the current state of the world is how “civilized” societies proclaim their civility with such force, decry the savagery of others, and then ship a stunning number of listless, lost, and mediocre men overseas where they indulge in the same or even worse cruelty and savagery as they accuse others of.
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
Though it was dense in places, Hochschild did a wonderful job tying the characters together in the end. The book focuses on the lives of many historical figures including King Leopold and his wives, Americans interested in Africa, missionaries, and the people working to take over the Congo. By incorporating the lives of all of these people, Hochschild demonstrates the worldwide effect of imperialism. Overall, it was an enlightening read.