A book review

I haven't ever really written a book review - so here goes.... I just finished reading King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild and Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman. They are completely unrelated in genre and subject matter but equally significant in terms of the impact they've had on me (over the course of this week). I thought I could bang out two reviews today, but seeing as I'm leaving for Brasil tomorrow, I only have time for this one.....

Hochschild's non fiction work covers the Belgian king's exploration, colonization, and exploitation of the present day Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is a sorrowful tale of unimaginable cruelty and the powerful result a few dedicated activists were able to affect. The most notable portions of the book are devoted to the exploration of the Congo by Henry Morgan Stanley, the atrocities committed in the Congo, the roles of various activists, and the defamation of King Leopold's character. On all fronts the author lays out a clear, concise sequence of events.

Congo was King Leopold's personal fief from the time the United States recognized the territory in 1884 until the time the king sold it to Belgium in 1908. While King Leopold never stepped foot in the country, he fully exploited its wealth and presided over a system of mass murder and torture. The worst of terror in Congo occurred during the late 1890's/early 1900's and it is possible that up to 10 million people died.

Hochschild does a thorough job of identifying detractors and supporters of the colonial system created by Leopold. While few people today could describe the merciless system of colonial rule, a substantial number may be familiar with Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad (about the Congo). Conrad was but one of many prolific activists that exposed the colonial inhumanity in the Congo. The author humanizes the beleaguered efforts of the four key men, George Washington Williams, Edmund Dene Morel, William Sheppard, Roger Casement, and their efforts to inform the world about life in Leopold's Congo. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Hochschild definitely implicates the Catholic Church in legitimizing Leopold's reign of terror. His analysis encompasses clergy that "were mostly Belgian and loyal supporters of the king and his regime", and includes the Vatican's encouragement of American bishop James Cardinal Gibbons to lobby on Leopold's behalf.

Hochschild also, to the point of extreme, presents King Leopold as a horrible husband and father, with no concern for human life or cultural pursuits, with an architectural mania that bordered on obsession. The very real disparagement of character is effective and done so with the intent of contradicting the humanitarian image the king tried to craft for himself during his lifetime.

The notes are extensive, nearly thirty pages, but only give sources for direct quotations. That is apparently remedied by an equally impressive bibliography. However, there is no way of knowing which statistics belong to which source. Since this is a popular work, equally as likely to be read by someone with a casual interest rather than a scholar or student, it is debatable if that methodology makes sense.

The book was readable and the topic is of tremendous importance. Colonialism was a greedy racially motivated system of dictatorship that looked very different in Africa and Latin American then in North America. Africa today still struggles with issues that were exasperated by colonialism - slavery, corruption, tribal and class divisions. Hochschild does a good job addressing the lack of documented African voices and questioning the long term impact of the activism. However, with a genocide not too far in the recent past (Rwanda) and currently happening (Darfur) it is good to be reminded that if the concentrated effort of a few, black and white, could defeat machinations of a king. It is nice to think that we too can make a difference.