Dax's Reviews > Congo: The Epic History of a People

While difficult to read at times, "Congo" is a horribly mesmerizing account of the last 150 years of Congo's history. From Leopold II and early colonialism to present day conflicts, life in the Congo has been an endlessly bloody affair.

Reybrouck's book is an important work. He uses memories and anecdotes of natives to tell the country's history. Most histories, particularly African histories, have been written by the colonizers. As Reybrouck says, "All I know is that I would rather talk to normal people than with politicians, that I learn more from anecdotes than from rhetoric." This book uses this approach with great success.

The violence in these passages is brutal, but "Congo" is a special book that brings these atrocities to light and takes a good hard look at the long term implications of colonialism.