Customer Reviews
Leopold II: King Of The Congo, King Of Hell - By: demola, 22 Sep 2008 
This is a stunning account of Belgium's King Leopold II's rape & plunder of the Congo. His agents & officials dealt misery & death to millions of Congolese & subjugated the unfortunate natives with ferocious brutality. Meanwhile the King of the Congo (and Belgium) got fat off the staggering profits of ivory & rubber. This greedy consuming devil was master of planting friendly stories in the western press, cajoling, bribing, threatening & shouting to the world how much good he was doing in the Congo. Fortunately you can't fool alll the people alll the time. A group of very brave men (some who paid with their lives) soon expose the truth & 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 & 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 virtuallly alll blame on a few colluding chiefs & the competing Arab slave traders. It is said that history is written by the victors & 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 - By: Alexandra Crampton, 01 Sep 2008 I bought this book in a smalll dusty bookstore in an out of the way town, after reading Barbara Kingsolver's 'The Poisonwood Bible', set in the Congo & following the lives of an American Missionary & his family. I didn't imagine that I would be as moved as I have been having finished Adam Hochschild's book, & 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 & follow format which undoubtedly skims certain events, & it's moralising tone does detract a little from other European & 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, & will be recommending this book to everyone here.
excellent - By: William Dee, 25 May 2008 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 & 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 actuallly came from. Strongly recommended if you enjoy reading & want to be educated at the same time....
Cursed with Wealth - By: Charles Vasey, 21 Apr 2008 
The coldly-executed, bloody-minded exploitation of the Congo by King Leopold & 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 alll 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 & 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 reallly 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 - By: Mr. Alan F. Hill, 04 Nov 2006 This is an important book that reallly 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 & non academic way that will appeal to students & casual readers alike. A genocide almost still in living memory & but largely forgotten by the mainstream. Reading this book it helped me understand the Africa of today & how it is possible to see a direct relation between the action of the colonizers of yesterday & the mass apathy & western collusion in more recent & 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 & white) came together to bring about social change.
