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

Excellent read, mainly due to the balanced composition: a historical narrative interwoven with testimonies that sometimes are really captivating. Reybrouck of course depends on witnesses to make things a little more tangible, but this occasionally weakens his story, especially in the turbulent period of Kasavubu and Lumumba. Also the real character of Mobutu remained somewhat obscure, foremost in his later period. And the efforts of Van Reybrouck to give his work some literary flair, at times resulted in cheap effects.
That does not mean that this is not a wonderful book. His emphasis for instance on the Congolese music scene was new to me. And then of course it really is distressing how such a magnificent country and people, with so much potential, don't get out of the swamp. In this respect the final chapter on the Congolese colony in China certainly is interesting and remarkable; it's an illustration of how people are looking for a way out of misery; but perhaps it was not a good focus to end this book with, because it's all about the big money gain by some handy people. I think that in Congo itself there are to find many more points of light for the future.