King Leopold's ghost : a story of greed, terror, and heroism in Colonial Africa / Adam Hochschild ; foreword by Barbara Kingsolver
Material type:
TextPublisher: Boston : Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020Copyright date: ©1998Edition: Second Mariner Books editionDescription: 379 pages, 16 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations, map ; 21 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 0358212502
- 9780358212508
- Story of greed, terror, and heroism in Colonial Africa
- Léopold II, King of the Belgians, 1835-1909
- Congo (Democratic Republic) -- Politics and government -- 1885-1908
- Forced labor -- Congo (Democratic Republic) -- History -- 19th century
- Forced labor -- Congo (Democratic Republic) -- History -- 20th century
- Indigenous peoples -- Congo (Democratic Republic) -- History -- 19th century
- Indigenous peoples -- Congo (Democratic Republic) -- History -- 20th century
- Congo (Democratic Republic) -- Race relations -- History -- 19th century
- Congo (Democratic Republic) -- Race relations -- History -- 20th century
- Human rights movements -- History -- 19th century
- Human rights movements -- History -- 20th century
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
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Adult Book
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Dr. James Carlson Library | NonFiction | 967.5102 H685 | Available | 33111009429560 | ||||
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Adult Book
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Main Library | NonFiction | 967.5102 H685 | Checked out | 06/11/2024 | 33111009603701 | |||
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Adult Book
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Northport Library | NonFiction | 967.5102 H685 | Available | 33111008996551 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
The 25th Anniversary Edition, with a foreword by Barbara Kingsolver
"An enthralling story . . . A work of history that reads like a novel." -- Christian Science Monitor
"As Hochschild's brilliant book demonstrates, the great Congo scandal prefigured our own times . . . This book must be read and reread." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review
A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist * A New York Times Notable Book
In the late nineteenth century, as the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium carried out a brutal plundering of the territory surrounding the Congo River. Ultimately slashing the area's population by ten million, he still managed to shrewdly cultivate his reputation as a great humanitarian. A tale far richer than any novelist could invent, King Leopold's Ghost is the horrifying account of a megalomaniac of monstrous proportions. It is also the deeply moving portrait of those who defied Leopold: African rebel leaders who fought against hopeless odds and a brave handful of missionaries, travelers, and young idealists who went to Africa for work or adventure but unexpectedly found themselves witnesses to a holocaust and participants in the twentieth century's first great human rights movement.
Reprint. Originally published in Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1998.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 352-364) and index.
Chronicles the life of King Leopold II of Belgium and discusses how he plundered the Congo, how his people tried to overthrow him, and other related topics.
Prologue: "The traders area kidnapping our people" -- Part I: Walking into fire. "I shall not give up the chase" ; The fox crosses the stream ; The magnificent cake ; "The treaties must grant us everything" ; From Florida to Berlin ; Under the Yacht Club flag ; The first heretic ; Where there aren't no Ten Commandments ; Meeting Mr. Kurtz ; The wood that weeps ; A secret society of murderers -- Part II: A King at bay. David and Goliath ; Breaking into the thieves' kitchen ; To flood his deeds with day ; A reckoning ; "Journalists won't give you recipes" ; No man is a stranger ; Victory? ; The Great Forgetting -- Looking back : a personal afterword.