King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial AfricaIn the 1880s, as the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River. Carrying out a genocidal plundering of the Congo, he looted its rubber, brutalized its people, and ultimately slashed its population by ten million--all the while shrewdly cultivating his reputation as a great humanitarian. Heroic efforts to expose these crimes eventually led to the first great human rights movement of the twentieth century, in which everyone from Mark Twain to the Archbishop of Canterbury participated. King Leopold's Ghost is the haunting account of a megalomaniac of monstrous proportions, a man as cunning, charming, and cruel as any of the great Shakespearean villains. It is also the deeply moving portrait of those who fought Leopold: a brave handful of missionaries, travelers, and young idealists who went to Africa for work or adventure and unexpectedly found themselves witnesses to a holocaust. Adam Hochschild brings this largely untold story alive with the wit and skill of a Barbara Tuchman. Like her, he knows that history often provides a far richer cast of characters than any novelist could invent. Chief among them is Edmund Morel, a young British shipping agent who went on to lead the international crusade against Leopold. Another hero of this tale, the Irish patriot Roger Casement, ended his life on a London gallows. Two courageous black Americans, George Washington Williams and William Sheppard, risked much to bring evidence of the Congo atrocities to the outside world. Sailing into the middle of the story was a young Congo River steamboat officer named Joseph Conrad. And looming above them all, the duplicitous billionaire King Leopold II. With great power and compassion, King Leopold's Ghost will brand the tragedy of the Congo--too long forgotten--onto the conscience of the West. |
What people are saying - Write a review
User ratings
5 stars |
| ||
4 stars |
| ||
3 stars |
| ||
2 stars |
| ||
1 star |
|
Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified
LibraryThing Review
User Review - mbmackay - LibraryThingAn outstanding book that clinically and calmly exposes the outrage of the Belgian King's appalling crimes in colonial Africa. Along with Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Alice Seeley Harris's photos of ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - theonearmedcrab - LibraryThingAdam Hochschild concentrates on a specific period in Congo’s history in “King Leopold’s Ghost” (1998). After a brief introduction he describes how, thanks to the exploration and the later efforts of ... Read full review
Other editions - View all
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa Adam Hochschild No preview available - 2019 |
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Adam Hochschild No preview available - 1999 |
Common terms and phrases
African American arrived asked began Belgian Belgium British brought Brussels called carried Casement cause chief claim colony Congo Conrad continent death England Europe European expedition explorer Force Foreign francs French gathering gave give half hands head Henry Morton Stanley human hundred killed king king's labor land later Leopold letters living London look major Marchal marched meeting million mission missionaries months Morel named natives never newspaper officials once ordered passed porters president quoted records reform river Royal rubber rule Sanford seemed sent Sheppard ship slaves Society soldiers sometimes soon Stanley Stanley's station story territory things thousand took trade turned United village wanted women writing wrote York young