What are the best books on the Congo Crisis?
Ewans, Martin (2017). European Atrocity, African Catastrophe: Leopold II, the Congo Free State and its Aftermath. Routledge. ISBN 978-1317849070. Gibbs, David N. (1991). The Political Economy of Third World Intervention: Mines, Money, and U.S. Policy in the Congo Crisis.
What is the theme of the book The Curse of the Congo?
Magical, multi-voiced account of a family's spiralling doom at a remote mission station in the Congo around the time of independence in 1960. Narrated in turns by the mother and the daughters, it captures the singsong sound of Lingala, the language of the lower river, and the jungle's hidden terrors.
What is the plot of Congo by Michael Crichton?
The novel centers on an expedition searching for diamonds and investigating the mysterious deaths of a previous expedition in the dense tropical rainforest of the Congo. Crichton calls Congo a lost world novel in the tradition founded by Henry Rider Haggard 's King Solomon's Mines, featuring the mines of that work's title.
What are the best books about King Leopold's Congo?
King Leopold's Congo: Aspects of the Development of Race Relations in the Congo Independent State. Institute of Race Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press. OCLC 655811695. Simon, Thomas W. (2007). The Laws of Genocide: Prescriptions for a Just World. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0275979454. Stapleton, Timothy J. (2017).
What is the book A Bend in the River VS Naipaul about?
Who wrote the African Trio?
How long did it take Stanley to chart the Congo?
What was Tim Butcher's first book?
Where would a troubled novelist go for solitude in the 1950s?
What was the strategy of Waugh?
When was the African Dream written?
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About this website
What finally ended Leopold's control and brutality over the Congo?
What finally ended Leopold's control and brutality over Congo? Congo was bought from him. Why is the European imperialism in Africa called the Scramble for Africa? It was a huge rush for resources and power throughout Africa.
What is the major commodity that's being constantly extracted from Congo in the novel?
Copper has been mined in Congo since at least the fourth century, and the deposits were known to Portuguese slave traders from the fifteenth century onward. Cobalt is a byproduct of copper production.
Is the heart of darkness a true story?
Conrad's famous novella is based on a real journey the author took up the Congo in 1890, during King Leopold II of Belgium's horrific rule. It is a fantastic, imaginative journey to find a man named Kurtz who has lost his mind in the African jungle.
Why did Adam Hochschild write King Leopold's Ghost?
While Hochschild has said that his intention was to tell the story in "a way that brings characters alive, that brings out the moral dimension, that lays bare a great crime and a great crusade", he was criticised for his overly moralistic dimension, and former Belgian officials deplored his comparison of Leopold with ...
Why do they cut off hands in Africa?
To make up for the low production, troops began to use hands as currency – chopping them was a way of punishing workers who did not fulfill their quotas, and, at the same time, served to show that soldiers were doing their part in exerting pressure over the local population to ensure the fulfillment of these quotas.
What does in the rubber coils mean?
The imperialist powers saw Africa as a valuable source of raw materials that would fuel their growing economies. European businessmen made enormous profits by controlling the African trade in rubber, coffee, ivory, diamonds, palm oil, cotton, tea, and tobacco.
What inspired Marlow to Africa?
Marlow wants to go to the Congo because he has always been obsessed with the river. When he was little, he used to peer at maps, and the Congo, which resembled a snake that had uncoiled itself, was particularly enticing to him.
What was Heart of Darkness inspired by?
When Conrad began to write the novella, eight years after returning from Africa, he drew inspiration from his travel journals. He described Heart of Darkness as "a wild story" of a journalist who becomes manager of a station in the (African) interior and makes himself worshipped by a tribe of natives.
What book was Apocalypse Now based on?
Heart of DarknessApocalypse Now is based loosely on Joseph Conrad's 1898 novella Heart of Darkness, the story of a ship captain's journey up the Congo River during the heyday of European imperialism in Africa.
What type of book is King Leopold's Ghost?
BiographyKing Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa / GenreA biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Wikipedia
Is King Leopold's Ghost true?
Ben Affleck Will Direct 'King Leopold's Ghost,' Based on a Harrowing True Story. The story, about the men who exposed human rights horrors in the Congo, is a personal passion for Affleck.
Is King Leopold's Ghost fiction or nonfiction?
NonfictionNonfiction Book Review: King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild.
What is the name of the book that Crichton wrote in the tradition of King Solomon's Mines?
Crichton calls Congo a lost world novel in the tradition founded by Henry Rider Haggard 's King Solomon's Mines, featuring the mines of that work's title.
Where does the book Zinj take place?
The novel starts in 1979, with an abrupt end to an expedition sent by Earth Resource Technology Services Inc. in the dense rainforests of the Virunga region, in the heart of the Congo, when the team is suddenly attacked and killed by unknown creatures – soon, all contact with them is lost. The expedition, which was searching for deposits of diamonds, discovered the fictional lost city of Zinj. A video image taken by a camera there, and transmitted by satellite to the base station in Houston, shows a peculiar race of grey-haired gorillas to be responsible for the murders.
How much did the movie "The Gorilla" make?
Despite this, the film had a successful box office performance, grossing $152 million worldwide. In 1984 Telarium released a graphic adventure based on Congo. Because Crichton had sold all adaptation rights to the novel, he set the game—named Amazon —in South America, and Amy the gorilla became Paco the parrot.
Who was the voice of Amy in the movie Congo?
In 1995, a film version of Congo was released, directed by Frank Marshall and starring Laura Linney, Dylan Walsh, Ernie Hudson, Tim Curry, Grant Heslov, Joe Don Baker, and Shayna Fox as the voice of Amy.
Who bought the rights to King Solomon's Mines?
Crichton wanted to do a modern-day version of King Solomon's Mines. He pitched the idea to 20th Century Fox who bought the film rights before the story had been even written. This resulted in Crichton being blocked and unable to start the novel. He spent time in an isolation tank.
Who called for the recognition of the Congo Free State's atrocities as a "colonial genocide
In 2005, an early day motion before the British House of Commons, introduced by Andrew Dismore, called for the recognition of the Congo Free State's atrocities as a "colonial genocide" and called on the Belgian government to issue a formal apology. It was supported by 48 MPs.
What ethnic group was the most feared in the Congo?
The so-called Zappo Zaps (from the Songye ethnic group) were the most feared.
How many deaths did the Congolese have?
The magnitude of the population fall over the period is disputed, with modern estimates ranging from 1 million to 15 million deaths.
What was the state's policy towards its African subjects?
Ultimately the state's policy towards its African subjects became dominated by the demands which were made—both by the state itself and by the concessionary companies—for labour for the collection of wild produce of the territory. The system itself engendered abuses ...
What did King Philippe regret?
In 2020 King Philippe expressed his regret to the Government of Congo for "acts of violence and cruelty" inflicted during the rule of the Congo Free State, though he did not explicitly mention Leopold's role and some activists accused him of not making a full apology.
What happened in the 1890s in Congo?
The boom in demand for natural rubber, which was abundant in the territory, created a radical shift in the 1890s—to facilitate the extraction and export of rubber, all "uninhabited" land in the Congo was nationalised, with the majority distributed to private companies as concessions. Some was kept by the state.
When did the British condemn the Congo?
In May 1903 a debate in the British House of Commons led to the passing of a resolution in condemnation of the Congo Free State. A few days later the British consul in the town of Boma, Roger Casement, began touring the Congo to investigate the true extent of the abuses.
Who ruled the Congo Free State?
Sat 23 Nov 2019 10.35 EST. Last modified on Sat 23 Nov 2019 13.40 EST. In the last years of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, King Leopold II of Belgium ruled the Congo Free State with a tyranny that was peculiarly brutal even by the cruel and deeply racist standards of European colonialism in Africa.
Who was Cyriel Verschaeve?
In Kortrijk, the council said it was also renaming a street marking the life of Cyriel Verschaeve, a Flemish nationalist priest, and collaborator during the Nazi occupation of Belgium. Alderman Axel Ronse said: “Leopold II was a mass murderer and Cyriel Verschaeve a collaborator.
Is King Leopold's Ghost based on a book?
Those resistant to change are likely to come under more pressure when a Hollywood film, based on a best-selling book 20 years ago that highlighted Leopold’s bloody rule of the Congo Free State, is released. Last week it was announced Ben Affleck would be producing and directing the film inspired by Adam Hochschild’s King Leopold’s Ghost.
Did the DRC gain independence from Belgium?
Earlier this year a UN working group concluded in its preliminary report that, nearly six decades after the newly named DRC gained independence from Belgium, many of the country’s institutions remained racist and the state needed to apologise for the sins of its past as a step towards reform.
What is the book Starlight Barking about?
The Starlight Barking is an incredibly strange and fun book where all humans fall asleep and only animals are awake. A space dog grants them magical powers and offers them an opportunity to come into the stars with him. Cruella is in that book, but she is asleep.
Who helped her beat the bullies?
Image: Disney Books. She wasn’t sure when she had first known Cruella existed. That part of her had probably always been there, in the way she had grabbed for her toys in frustration and in the manner she had stomped off to school. It was Cruella who had helped her beat the bullies who tormented her.
Is Cruella asleep in the book?
Cruella is in that book, but she is asleep. It’s kind of great, but it’s really not what you might expect. I also looked to I Capture the Castle, which is just one of the best teen novels ever and everyone should read it.
Did Cruella keep Estella alive?
In many ways, Cruella had kept Estella alive when she arrived in London, alone and frightened. Sure, Horace and Jasper were a big part of it, but Cruella kept her going. Cruella liked taking purses and wallets. Cruella didn’t care about breaking the law.
What is the book A Bend in the River VS Naipaul about?
A Bend In The River, VS Naipaul (1979) A novel about identity, fear, tribalism and much more. It captures perfectly the folly of the large white colonial city of Stanleyville, built as far up the Congo as ferries could ply at the foot of some daunting cataracts.
Who wrote the African Trio?
6. African Trio, Georges Simenon, (1979) The Belgian author is best known for creating the detective Maigret, but he turned his pen to satire with devastating effect in these short stories, attacking the pettifogging bureaucrats who kept the crumbling colonial edifice of the Belgian Congo going.
How long did it take Stanley to chart the Congo?
Stanley's charting of the Congo was the high-water mark of 19th century African exploration. It took three years and cost the lives of hundreds of tribesmen slaughtered by Stanley's heavily-armed bearers. All his white companions died.
What was Tim Butcher's first book?
Tim Butcher's first book, Blood River - A Journey To Africa's Broken Heart, has just been selected as a Richard & Judy Book Club choice. It uses his expedition across the Congo to tell the region's turbulent history. He has worked for The Daily Telegraph since 1991 specialising in reporting on awkward places at awkward times.
Where would a troubled novelist go for solitude in the 1950s?
Where would a troubled novelist go for solitude in the 1950s? A leper colony halfway up the Congo near the town of Mbandaka was Greene's choice and the resulting fiction tells of a troubled individual - this time an architect - seeking time away from life's pressures by escaping to a remote medical station. When I visited the ruins of Mbandaka a few years back, no trace was left of its once famous medical centre, the missionary nurses or the writer.
What was the strategy of Waugh?
He would knock off a travel book to pay the bills and then use the journey to create fiction to earn acclaim. You've heard of Black Mischief and Scoop born of his African adventures but this is the more prosaic account written for the travel market. He clearly hated his time in the Congo, squabbling with a riverboat captain who marooned him upriver, described in a chapter called Second Nightmare.
When was the African Dream written?
The African Dream - The Diaries of the Revolutionary War in the Congo, Che Guevara (2000) Written in the mid-1960s but only published recently, this book reminds us of the heady days when lefties acted on their belief that revolution was to be exported.
Overview
Congo is a 1980 science fiction novel by Michael Crichton, the fifth under his own name and the fifteenth overall. The novel centers on an expedition searching for diamonds and investigating the mysterious deaths of a previous expedition in the dense tropical rainforest of the Congo. Crichton calls Congo a lost world novel in the tradition founded by Henry Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines, featuri…
Background
Atrocities
Population decline
Investigation and international awareness
In the period from 1885 to 1908, many well-documented atrocities were perpetrated in the Congo Free State (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo) which, at the time, was a state under the absolute rule of King Leopold II of the Belgians. These atrocities were particularly associated with the labour policies used to collect natural rubber for export. Together with epidemic disease, fami…
Historiography and the term "genocide"
Even before his accession to the throne of Belgium in 1865, the future king Leopold II began lobbying leading Belgian politicians to create a colonial empire in the Far East or Africa, which would expand and enhance Belgian prestige. Politically, however, colonisation was unpopular in Belgium as it was perceived as a risky and expensive gamble with no obvious benefit to the country and hi…
Legacy
With the majority of the Free State's revenues derived from the export of rubber, a labour policy—known by critics as the "Red Rubber system"—was created to maximise its extraction. Labour was demanded by the administration as taxation. This created a "slave society" as companies became increasingly dependent on forcibly mobilising Congolese labour for their collection of rubbe…
See also
Historians generally agree that a dramatic reduction in the overall size of the Congolese population occurred during the two decades of Free State rule in the Congo. It is argued that the reduction in the Congo was atypical and can be attributed to the direct and indirect effects of colonial rule, including disease and falling birthrate.
The historian Adam Hochschild argued that the dramatic fall in the Free State population was th…