Bibliograph

Congo, the epic history of a people, David van Reybrouck ; translated from the Dutch by Sam Garrett

Type

Label

Congo, the epic history of a people, David van Reybrouck ; translated from the Dutch by Sam Garrett

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages [561]-618) and index

Illustrations

maps

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Congo

Nature of contents

bibliography

Responsibility statement

David van Reybrouck ; translated from the Dutch by Sam Garrett

Sub title

the epic history of a people

Summary

Epic in scope and deeply moving, CONGO traces the fate of one of the world's most critical, failed nation-states, second only to war-torn Somalia: the Democratic Republic of Congo. David Van Reybrouck takes us through several hundred years of history, bringing some of the most dramatic episodes in Congolese history. Here are the people and events that have impinged the Congo's development - from the slave trade to the ivory and rubber booms; from the arrival of Henry Morton Stanley to the tragic regime of King Leopold II; from global indignation to Belgian colonialism; from the struggle for independence to Mobutu's brutal rule; and from the world famous Rumble in the Jungle to the civil war over natural resources that began in 1996 and still rages today. Van Reybrouck interweaves his own family's history with the voices of a diverse range of individuals - charismatic dictators, feuding warlords, child-soldiers, the elderly, female merchant smugglers, and many in the African diaspora of Europe and China - to offer a deeply humane approach to political history, focusing squarely on the Congolese perspective and returning a nation's history to its people

Target audience

adult

Classification