King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa

Almost all of us have forgotten that what we are taught in school is very censored and sterilized. The heroes are chosen not for what they did but for what our leaders would like us to see and think. This goes on everywhere whether you are in the United States or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR)
But, once in a while someone actually to digs up the facts and put then in a book for all to see, and these people always go through hell to get the word out.
Adam Rothschild has done that. And brilliantly I must add.
A Must Read Book!

This is not a book for the faint-hearted. It is a brutal history of the subjugation of Africans particularly focusing on their treatment by the Belgians. It is extremely well written and an excellent reference source for anyone interested in the history of Africa.

This book is just one of many examples of how mankind is closer to the beast, in nature, then the almighty. Europeans by some chance of fate and circumstances had a technological advantage over the rest of the world for many centuries and therefore had a chance to use this advantage to define the future of mankind in a positive way, what they did instead was what has amounted to the road to extintion. The fact that today we live in a place where we can think that we are more than farm animals (think usefulness) seems to be also a phenomenon of chance circumstances, or having what will amount to a temporary illusion of self-determination. Now that the playing field is starting to level out, we will see how superior europeans will feel. Read this book and understand a few more pieces of the bigger jigsaw puzzle. King Leopold was hardly unique in his methods of mayhem, perhaps an awkward Johnny come lately, but definitely not unique. Also read: Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya.

When I began reading this, I detected a leftist bias and lack of scholarship. I checked the authors bio when I got fed up with his slant and assumptions and I wasn't surprised to see that he is a journalism professor at Cal-Berkley. Pass on this if you want an objective view of Belgian colonialism in the Congo.

Finally a book that tells the truth about the forgotten Congo. For anyone planning to travel or live in Congo, this book will help you understand it's tragic history and therefore it's present day people. Even if you don't plan to travel there, it is a compelling read, a tale of what happens when a majority close their eyes and ears to the truth. This is a tragic, mesmerising and yet ultimately victorious tale. A must read.