King Leopold's Ghost: A Story Of Greed, Terror, And Heroism In Colonial Africa

In the 1880s, as the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized the territory surrounding the Congo River. He carried out a brutal plundering of the Congo, looting its rubber and brutalizing its people, leading to a significant population decline. Despite this, he cultivated a reputation as a humanitarian. Efforts to expose his crimes eventually led to a human rights movement involving figures like Mark Twain and the Archbishop of Canterbury. This account details the story of Leopold, the efforts of missionaries, travelers, and idealists who witnessed the Congo holocaust. Adam Hochschild vividly recounts the story, highlighting characters such as Edmund Morel, Roger Casement, George Washington Williams, William Sheppard, Joseph Conrad, and King Leopold II himself.