A review by secretbookcase
Congo: een geschiedenis by David Van Reybrouck

challenging informative medium-paced

4.0

An impressive historical account of the DR Congo, in which Van Reybrouck intertwines personal histories with the broader twists and turns of Congo's political history. It makes for a book that is easy to read, despite it being a big tome, but also offers a multifaceted account of Congolese history. I did find the first half of the book better than the sections talking about Congo post-2002, where I found Van Reybrouck took some analytical shortcuts and displayed a westernised view of the Congolese wars. Where in the first part he was so good at humanising the Congolese who lived under colonial rule, he later falls back on more biased and problematic depictions of Congolese as materialistic, venal and passive. His understanding of the political dynamics of Congo post-2002 also seems less developed than of the colonial and Mobutu eras. But nonetheless a great book for anyone who wants an in-depth but accessible introduction to the DR Congo's history.