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William2's Reviews > King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa
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William2's review
bookshelves: christianity, history, nonfiction, africa, empire-post-colonial, 20-ce, us, slavery, belgium
Dec 06, 2014
bookshelves: christianity, history, nonfiction, africa, empire-post-colonial, 20-ce, us, slavery, belgium
A few things. First, I have read widely about Mao's Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward (40 to 70 million dead), Stalin's purges and programs of collectivization (20 million dead) and Hitler's genocide (11 million dead). I am largely unshockable. However, the avarice and deceit of King Leopold II of Belgium in the Congo (15 million dead) has been something of a revelation. I hereby enter his name in my Rogues Gallery roster. It is important that we remember what he perpetrated for his own personal gain. Adam Hochschild's book does an excellent job of registering these crimes in the collective memory. The book has been justly praised. Let me add my own.
Also, it turns out the first great unmasker of Leopold was an American, George Washington Williams. He was a lawyer, minister, popular author and activist. He wrote an open letter to Leopold that was published in the Times in 1890 and which might have saved millions of lives had he been listened to. Williams was a man of considerable intellectual acumen and courage. Largely because he was black, however, he was ignored. I had always thought that that great whistleblower was Roger Casement. And certainly Casement's key contribution is recounted here, as is that of the great popularizer of the Congo cause, E.D. Morel, but Williams' audacious early warning was a surprise to me. I hereby enter his name into my book of latter-day Cassandras, and decree he be given greater emphasis in all relevant texts and courses.
Also, it turns out the first great unmasker of Leopold was an American, George Washington Williams. He was a lawyer, minister, popular author and activist. He wrote an open letter to Leopold that was published in the Times in 1890 and which might have saved millions of lives had he been listened to. Williams was a man of considerable intellectual acumen and courage. Largely because he was black, however, he was ignored. I had always thought that that great whistleblower was Roger Casement. And certainly Casement's key contribution is recounted here, as is that of the great popularizer of the Congo cause, E.D. Morel, but Williams' audacious early warning was a surprise to me. I hereby enter his name into my book of latter-day Cassandras, and decree he be given greater emphasis in all relevant texts and courses.
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Reading Progress
December 6, 2014
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Started Reading
December 6, 2014
– Shelved
December 6, 2014
– Shelved as:
nonfiction
December 6, 2014
– Shelved as:
history
December 6, 2014
– Shelved as:
christianity
December 6, 2014
– Shelved as:
africa
December 6, 2014
– Shelved as:
empire-post-colonial
December 6, 2014
– Shelved as:
us
December 6, 2014
– Shelved as:
20-ce
December 6, 2014
– Shelved as:
slavery
December 6, 2014
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39.0%
December 6, 2014
– Shelved as:
belgium
December 16, 2014
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Finished Reading
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message 51:
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William2
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rated it 4 stars
Aug 12, 2021 06:44PM
No nation is unsullied, none. But Mao killed 70 million of his own people. You have no leg to stand on!
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Very well said by Jayvee there, couldn’t agree more
Took a shot everytime that "one guy" enters the room for historical studies...you know the one.. he sounds if Jerrfey goldbloom from the fly was just an amalgamation between a Centre Left Neo Liberalist cucks and your average Neo Con. The one who diligently says they hate communists with one hand , (who probably ain't even 2A so lets get that out of the way rightnow) but likes MLK who was nothing more than a cucked FBI pawn and others who actually endorsed real racial equality and supported our rights (and was part of an organization with a long history of attending events with the known so called "Neo Nazi" Lincoln Rockwell and Tom Metzeger a former klans man) and voided blacks going onto welfare and having supported there Neiborhood being autonomous and away from whitey a person who reads books by some great guy who has espoused 100% support to the ANC who probably thinks Nelson Mandela it's former leader was not in reality a terrorist who did not kill countless black anti communists in the most horrific ways possible and was Indeed a good person as insured by the writer and grand stand in human achivment
A person who by means of further viewing seems too for some better lack of word have a mental "fuck over" in there head assuring them that Yukio Mishima (which btw seems to be the mentality of a 20th centuries persons configured equivalent of Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny with how many people change him into there own personal viewing of him) no fuck you , he was a right wing extremist.. he supported Imperial Japan (and was probably a war crime denier)
what wonderful human beings people like you are
Dually noted , if thats the attitude you take..I might consider adding you , it's up on my shoulders for debate
Isn’t that number from the Black Book of Communism, which has been debunked?
Galen! Use a period once in a while, dude. 😬
Wow, this blows my mind. Belgium always seemed like a quaint and cool country that neighboring armies marched thru and trenched up in. Recently visited the red poppy scene in Georgetown Texas. A WW1 vet brought the poppy seeds back home and now it's a poppy oasis in bluebonnet and Indian paintbrush Texas hill country. I've seen this book. I need to pick it up next time. I remember being horrified as a kid at reading about some western missionaries being savagely murdered there. I guess this sets the scene and helps explain it ... but not justify it. All these many decades later.
Thanks for your comments, Davy.
Casement is always the name I see attributed to being the first to criticize Leopold II’s atrocities. No good was going to come out of African independence with colonial powers greedily eyeing events and shaping history to their benefit alone (I’m currently reading “The Lumumba Plot”, I’d link it but I’m on the app, not my PC. The UN/US and now China is merely continuing what Belgium started. It’s horrific. I know you’re a pretty busy Goodreads user (lol) but I’d really love some recommendations on Mao and The Cultural Revolution. I feel that’s the one awful dictatorship that I’m far too unfamiliar with. Not that learning about these things are fun, but I’m sure I don’t need to explain this to you. :). Appreciate it so very much if you get to seeing this!
If you read one book on the Cultural Revolution, let it be Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Chang. Hope you like it.
I inherited a coin necklace. King Leopold and 1877, I may sell it! It belong to my aunt who was born in Belgium. I’m so ashamed to have it my possession.
I hope you will do well with the sale.
'Hitler's genocide' involved not 11 million people, but 11 million Slavs and 5 million Jews.
Are Slavs and Jews not people?
