IamThunderbolt
Well-known member
Added to my list.As long as Townie keeps liking I’ll keep writing.
7. King Leopold’s Ghost. By Adam Hochschild.
I knew the Belgian Congo was a bad place. I may have read Heart of Darkness in high school. I did read it when I finished this book. I also remember Bourdain’s DRC episode. Still, I was ignorant of most of the details and could not have told you King Leopold II was behind the horrific cruelty. Now I can confidently say that he should be remembered as one of the worst people of the 19th century.
An estimated 10 million people died due to his exploitation. He made an untold fortune off of it. Of course it was not enough as he also stole from Belgium by taking loans he never intended to repay. He disowned his daughter. He marriage was a sham.
He was able to fool a lot of people for a while about his true character. He certainly had great public relations skills. There were some brave individuals who fought to expose the truth, often to their great peril. Having characters in the book worthy of admiration was nice balance of sorts. Of course I am sure there were many other acts of bravery and defiance lost to history.
Also, it’s YA, but phenomenal- first book of the year this year was Patron Saints of Nothing. It was an incredible book of identity and belonging set against Duterte’s War on Drugs. Finished it in 2 days.