King Leopold's ghost
by Adam Hochschild · first published 1998
54% recommend46% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Gives a clear, grounded account of Belgian colonial rule in the Congo and the cover-up of its brutality. It is a brilliant overview, honest and brutal, and suited to readers new to the subject.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In 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.
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…even acknowledge this black spot in their history, and you will still find plenty of statues, squares and streets in his honour. Should you want to read more, and it's not an easy read, I'd recommend King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild.
on “The Neues Museum claims copyright over 3D-printing files of the Nefertiti bust” ↗Friends of the Congo: http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/films-a-videos.html has some great resources about this. Another classic is Heart of Darkness (although a fiction, it tells much about colonialism) King Leopold's Ghost is also a great read: http://www.amazon.com/King-Leopolds-Ghost-Heroism-Colonial/d...
on “Is the #kony2012 campaign a scam, or just misleading? ” ↗…"Behind the Cloud" (surprisingly good for a business book) Keith Anderson - "The Digital Cathedral" (book a friend of mine wrote, hard to describe, but suprised me at how good it is) Adam Hochschild - "King Leopold's Ghost" (how the Congo became a colony) Jessica Livingston - "Founders at Work" "The Singapore Story: The memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew" (a little dry / long at points, but otherwise very instructive) "Listening…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2015?” ↗And further along this path, if you really want to be saddened / depressed / disgusted, there's King Leopold's Ghost. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004KZOWEG
on “The Dark Side of Congo’s Cobalt Rush” ↗…beginner on the Congo. Yes it deals with the brutality of Belgian colonialism... but it's dated and has it's own racist portrayal of Africa as the dark continent with primitive peoples. I would tho second King Leopold's Ghost as a brilliant overview of colonialism in the Congo.
on “Is the #kony2012 campaign a scam, or just misleading? ” ↗"King Leopold's Ghost" An honest, brutal account of colonialism and the attempt to cover up it's effects on the people suffering under it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Leopold%27s_Ghost
on “Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?” ↗…experiences with non fiction? There are plenty of non fiction books which are good and where the book doesn’t just feel like filler. Some that come to mind quickly : - bad blood (about theranos) - SPQR - King Leopold’s Ghost - Lost in Math - masters of doom
on “Mass market non-fiction has bad incentives” ↗…Belgium had incredibly effective “PR” essentially turning “us” from the aggressor to the victim due to WW1 breaking out and effectively erasing Congo from the Zeitgeist. I highly recommend the book “King Leopold’s Ghost”. (Or the fictionalized “heart of darkness” by Konrad if fiction is more your thing).
on “How Brussels writes so many laws” ↗"King Leopold's Ghost" is also very good
on “The connection between modern slavery and ecological disaster” ↗Currently Reading: * The Techniques of Rug Weaving - Collingwood, Peter * King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa - Hochschild, Adam * Technohorror: Inventions in Terror - Various Library Hold List: * Reclaimed Textiles: Techniques for Paper, Stitch, Plastic…
on “Ask HN: 2019 Winter Reading List?” ↗Learned about Leopold II in high school, Heart Of Darkness was a book we read in class, King Leopold's Ghost is a popular book today. You could just as easily say that 'No one calls Mao Hitler' as well (though of course many do), as his horrors aren't given the same focus either. What about Genghis Khan? His…
on “When You Kill Ten Million Africans You Aren't Called 'Hitler' (2010)” ↗…to treat someone however you want because they don't have the means to rebel. And second, the examination of this isn't new at all. Heart of Darkness, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Apocalypse Now, King Leopold's Ghost, tons and tons of artists have examined what happens when someone has an unfair advantage without consequence; those are just some I plucked quickly, but there are so many. I'm not saying the point is…
on “Research suggests that more money makes people act less human. ” ↗…again, no Congo expert, but I'm highly skeptical that the UN intervention is the proximate cause for the Congo Crisis. You might want to start by looking at the role of Belgium, well-documented in the book King Leopold's Ghost [2] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo_Crisis [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Leopold's_Ghost
on “UN caused deadly cholera in Haiti, covered it up, lawsuit says” ↗…read the words, where the writer had a serious argument, “was worse than the holocaust”. This was in reference to the mass deaths in the Congo under King Leopold of Belgium, as documented in the book “King Leopold’s Ghost”. I know a ton of people have died in history and there have been so many wars, but the Scramble for Africa was really really really bad. Yeah so I guess in conclusion, NY Times shouldn’t have used…
on “Facebook Faces a New World as Officials Rein in a Wild Web” ↗I’m about to read King Leopold’s Ghost. Great choice in username. I must say it’s a little disappointing that things like “secret bombing campaigns” getting declassified don’t lead to much public response.
on “The electromechanical angle computer inside the B-52 bomber's star tracker” ↗