Congo: The Epic History of a People

Críticas:

.".. a compelling mixture of literary and oral history that delivers an authentic story of how European colonialism, African resistance, and the endless exploitation of natural resources affected the lives of the Congolese."--Booklist

"a monumental history . . . more exciting than any novel."--NRC Handelsblad

"An unbelievable tour de force."--Humo

"An absolute masterpiece!"--VPRO Radio

"Breathtaking."--Trouw

"If you are looking to read one book on Congo this year, this is it. David Van Reybrouck combines deep historical investigation with extensive ethnography. The result is an illuminating narrative."--Mahmood Mamdani, Director of the Makerere Institute of Social Research and author of Good Muslim, Bad Muslim

"A well-documented and passionate narrative which reads like a novel. [..] As an eye, a judge, and a witness, a talented writer testifies."--V.Y.M. Mudimbe, author of The Invention of Africa

"Congo is a remarkable piece of work. Van Reybrouck [keeps] a panoramic history of a vast and complex nation accessible, intimate and particular."--Michela Wrong, author of In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz

"Van Reybrouck's extensive account reveals the depth and breadth of exploitation, particularly under Belgian colonial rule, and how Congo's story is one fraught with the toxic cycle of 'desire, frustration, revenge.'"--Publishers Weekly

"A vivid panorama of one of the most tormented lands in the world... A valuable addition to the rich literature that Congo has inspired."--Washington Post

Reseña del editor:

Hailed as "a monumental history . . . more exciting than any novel" (NRC Handelsblad),David van Reybrouck’s rich and gripping epic, in the tradition of Robert Hughes' The Fatal Shore, tells the extraordinary story of one of the world's most devastated countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo.

 Epic in scope yet eminently readable, penetrating and deeply moving, David van Reybrouck's Congo: The Epic History of a People traces the fate of one of the world's most critical, failed nation-states, second only to war-torn Somalia: the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Van Reybrouck takes us through several hundred years of history, bringing some of the most dramatic episodes in Congolese history. Here are the people and events that have impinged the Congo's development—from the slave trade to the ivory and rubber booms; from the arrival of Henry Morton Stanley to the tragic regime of King Leopold II; from global indignation to Belgian colonialism; from the struggle for independence to Mobutu's brutal rule; and from the world famous Rumble in the Jungle to the civil war over natural resources that began in 1996 and still rages today.

Van Reybrouck interweaves his own family's history with the voices of a diverse range of individuals—charismatic dictators, feuding warlords, child-soldiers, the elderly, female merchant smugglers, and many in the African diaspora of Europe and China—to offer a deeply humane approach to political history, focusing squarely on the Congolese perspective and returning a nation's history to its people.

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