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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Hochschild builds on the devoted work of previous historians and scholars in this important investigative journalistic masterpiece. He reveals the details of King Leopold’s cruel, deadly, and overlooked reign in the Congo while drawing parallels to other human rights violations (past and present) for which this illustrates the devastation and harm of unchecked power and greed, the intentional efforts of powerful leaders to obscure history, and the terror brought on by colonization and forced labor. Not a book I’ll reach for to reread soon, but one I’ll surely think about for a long time to come.
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
challenging
informative
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
dark
informative
slow-paced
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Slavery, Trafficking, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Suicide
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
What an incredible book. Hochschild unpacks this devastating period of human history in a way that does great credit to his background as both a journalist and historian. He crushes you under the weight of the atrocities in the Congo while still giving a full picture of the political, societal, and personal contexts. Where historical documentation allows, he delves deep into the fascinating stories of all the main characters, and the historical narrative often reads as interesting as a novel.
Complete understanding of the actions and beliefs of individuals in the far past is often obscured by the mists of changing times and social norms. It is the responsibility of any decent historian to use their deeper knowledge to contextualize the past for the reader's benefit. Today, the mindsets of the colonizer and the oppressed may seem so far removed as to be incomprehensible. Yet Hochschild carefully explains the past, in a way that lets us judge characters by both the standards of their time, and our own.
What results is a riveting account that feels balanced and full bodied. He'll read you the sappy love letters of the villains to their wives while revealing the myriad failings of the heros. And the book is so much the better for it.
There was apparently much recorded as to the many atrocities committed in the Congo, via the numerous letters and investigations of the time, and although Hochschild certainly gave them their due, I would not have minded even more time spent detailing them.
Overall I was quite impressed, and by the time of putting this review to paper, I have already read a second book by Hochschild and intend to read at least one more.
Complete understanding of the actions and beliefs of individuals in the far past is often obscured by the mists of changing times and social norms. It is the responsibility of any decent historian to use their deeper knowledge to contextualize the past for the reader's benefit. Today, the mindsets of the colonizer and the oppressed may seem so far removed as to be incomprehensible. Yet Hochschild carefully explains the past, in a way that lets us judge characters by both the standards of their time, and our own.
What results is a riveting account that feels balanced and full bodied. He'll read you the sappy love letters of the villains to their wives while revealing the myriad failings of the heros. And the book is so much the better for it.
There was apparently much recorded as to the many atrocities committed in the Congo, via the numerous letters and investigations of the time, and although Hochschild certainly gave them their due, I would not have minded even more time spent detailing them.
Overall I was quite impressed, and by the time of putting this review to paper, I have already read a second book by Hochschild and intend to read at least one more.