From the beginnings of the slave trade through colonization, the struggle for independence, Mobutu's brutal three decades of rule, and the civil war that has raged from 1996 to the present day, Congo: The Epic History of a People traces the history of one of the most devastated nations in the world. Esteemed scholar David Van Reybrouck balances hundreds of interviews with a diverse range of Congolese with meticulous historical research to construct a multidimensional portrait of a nation and its people.
Epic in scope yet eminently readable, both penetrating and deeply moving, Congo—a finalist for the Cundill Prize—takes a deeply humane approach to political history, focusing squarely on the Congolese perspective, and returns a nation's history to its people.
Chapter 1. Central Africa Draws the Attention of East and West 1870–1885
Chapter 2. Congo Under Leopold II 1885–1908
Chapter 3. The Early Years of the Colonial Regime 1908–1921
Chapter 4. Growing Unrest and Mutual Suspicion in Peacetime 1921–1940
Chapter 5. The War and the Deceptive Calm That Followed 1940–1955
Chapter 6. A Belated Decolonization, a Sudden Independence 1955–1960
Chapter 8. The Turbulent Years of the First Republic 1960–1965
Chapter 9. Mobutu Gets Down to Business 1965–1975
Chapter 10. A Marshal’s Madness 1975–1990
Chapter 11. Democratic Opposition and Military Confrontation 1990–1997
Chapter 12. The Great War of Africa 1997–2002
Chapter 13. New Players in a Wasted Land 2002–2006
Chapter 14. Hope and Despair in a Newborn Democracy 2006–2010