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The Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination
A spellbinding work of history that reads like a Cold War spy thriller—about the U.S.-sanctioned plot to assassinate the democratically elected leader of the newly independent Congo
It was supposed to be a moment of great optimism, a cause for jubilation. Congo was at last being set free from Belgium—one of seventeen countries to gain independence in 1960 from ruling European powers. Just days after the handover, however, Congo’s new army mutinied, Belgian forces intervened, and its leader Patrice Lumumba turned to the United Nations for help in saving his newborn nation from what the press was already calling “the Congo Crisis.” Dag Hammarskjöld, the tidy Swede who was serving as UN secretary-general, quickly arranged the organization’s biggest peacekeeping mission to date. But chaos was still spreading. Frustrated with the fecklessness of the UN, Lumumba then approached the Soviets for help—an appeal that set off alarm bells at the CIA. To forestall the spread of communism in Africa, the U.S. sent word to the CIA station chief in Leopoldville, Larry Lumumba had to go.
Within a year, everything would unravel. The CIA plot to murder Lumumba would fizzle, but he would be deposed in a CIA-backed coup and shot dead by Congolese assassins. Hammarskjöld, too, would die, in a mysterious plane crash, en route to negotiate a ceasefire with Congo’s rebellious southeast. And a young, ambitious military officer named Joseph Mobutu, who had once sworn fealty to Lumumba, would seize power in Congo with U.S. help and misrule the country for more than three decades. For the Congolese people, the events of 1960–61 represented the opening chapter of a long horror story. For the U.S. government, however, they provided a playbook for future interventions.
It was supposed to be a moment of great optimism, a cause for jubilation. Congo was at last being set free from Belgium—one of seventeen countries to gain independence in 1960 from ruling European powers. Just days after the handover, however, Congo’s new army mutinied, Belgian forces intervened, and its leader Patrice Lumumba turned to the United Nations for help in saving his newborn nation from what the press was already calling “the Congo Crisis.” Dag Hammarskjöld, the tidy Swede who was serving as UN secretary-general, quickly arranged the organization’s biggest peacekeeping mission to date. But chaos was still spreading. Frustrated with the fecklessness of the UN, Lumumba then approached the Soviets for help—an appeal that set off alarm bells at the CIA. To forestall the spread of communism in Africa, the U.S. sent word to the CIA station chief in Leopoldville, Larry Lumumba had to go.
Within a year, everything would unravel. The CIA plot to murder Lumumba would fizzle, but he would be deposed in a CIA-backed coup and shot dead by Congolese assassins. Hammarskjöld, too, would die, in a mysterious plane crash, en route to negotiate a ceasefire with Congo’s rebellious southeast. And a young, ambitious military officer named Joseph Mobutu, who had once sworn fealty to Lumumba, would seize power in Congo with U.S. help and misrule the country for more than three decades. For the Congolese people, the events of 1960–61 represented the opening chapter of a long horror story. For the U.S. government, however, they provided a playbook for future interventions.
627 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 3, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 302 reviews
September 2, 2024
A Well-written, insightful and thorough piece. Highly intriguing lengthy read with profound investigative journalism about the belgian colonialism on the soil of Democratic republic of congo and covers DRC's movement for independence. Patrice Émery Lumumba's endeavor, his bravery, struggle and fate to birth the modern day Congo is depicted adequately encompassing all the parties involved, plots and conspiracies that transpired concurrently behind the curtain such as coup, resistance, peace keeping operations, chaos and turmoil with the involvement of United Nations, the C.I.A. , rebels that reside in and the soviets - all suitably portrayed.
Finally it all lead to a tragic denouement of the first democratically elected - prime minister of D.R.C., a charismatic leader, an african nationalist and a martyr for the pan-African movement like the immortal revolutionist Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara, However he played a very significant role in the transformation of the Congo from a colony of Belgium into an independent republic. I enjoyed the book overall as i admire the man for his ideologies and pan african movement. The book got me thinking: What might have happened and also let me wonder - what might have been for the beautiful people of D.R.C. and for Pan-African ideologies to Africa as a whole ? I highly recommend this work specially for history enthusiasts. Cudos to Stuart A. Reid 🙏
Finally it all lead to a tragic denouement of the first democratically elected - prime minister of D.R.C., a charismatic leader, an african nationalist and a martyr for the pan-African movement like the immortal revolutionist Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara, However he played a very significant role in the transformation of the Congo from a colony of Belgium into an independent republic. I enjoyed the book overall as i admire the man for his ideologies and pan african movement. The book got me thinking: What might have happened and also let me wonder - what might have been for the beautiful people of D.R.C. and for Pan-African ideologies to Africa as a whole ? I highly recommend this work specially for history enthusiasts. Cudos to Stuart A. Reid 🙏
July 2, 2026
Tower Teams Travels Reading Challenge 2025
Country level: Hard
An Excellent Book that deserves a much longer review that I'm currently able to write, but here are my 2 cents anyway.
My very first book on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and I'm grateful to the TT Challenge that pushed me out of my comfort zone and made me choose it.
And what an introduction this has been! Author Stuart A. Reid delivers a first-rate account of the political intrigue surrounding former Congolese Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba’s assassination. His writing is both accessible and deeply researched. The narrative is gripping, tense and sobering and provides all the necessary historical context.
What makes this book especially eye-opening is the unbiased exploration of the international forces at play: the covert role of the CIA, the disturbing involvement of the Belgian government & the White House on the top level and the heavy shadow of paternalism and colonialism that continues to influence the region. Reid presents the perspectives of all key players, including the UN’s controversial efforts -well-intentioned, though flawed ‐ as embodied by Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld.
The audiobook narration was excellent, further drawing me into the story. It is quite a long book with its more than 600 pages, but it is so worth reading. It offers a deeper understanding of Congo’s past and the global power dynamics that shaped it.
I absolutely recommend this book to anyone interested in Cold War history, African politics, or simply a compelling nonfiction read.
Country level: Hard
An Excellent Book that deserves a much longer review that I'm currently able to write, but here are my 2 cents anyway.
My very first book on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and I'm grateful to the TT Challenge that pushed me out of my comfort zone and made me choose it.
And what an introduction this has been! Author Stuart A. Reid delivers a first-rate account of the political intrigue surrounding former Congolese Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba’s assassination. His writing is both accessible and deeply researched. The narrative is gripping, tense and sobering and provides all the necessary historical context.
What makes this book especially eye-opening is the unbiased exploration of the international forces at play: the covert role of the CIA, the disturbing involvement of the Belgian government & the White House on the top level and the heavy shadow of paternalism and colonialism that continues to influence the region. Reid presents the perspectives of all key players, including the UN’s controversial efforts -well-intentioned, though flawed ‐ as embodied by Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld.
The audiobook narration was excellent, further drawing me into the story. It is quite a long book with its more than 600 pages, but it is so worth reading. It offers a deeper understanding of Congo’s past and the global power dynamics that shaped it.
I absolutely recommend this book to anyone interested in Cold War history, African politics, or simply a compelling nonfiction read.
December 11, 2024
Well this one was one heck of an harrowing read.
Although it is very much in the "burn your idols" vein if you've absorbed the idea that Lumumba was some kind of leftist heroic figure, I thought it came across as very honest and that Reid tried his best to be fair to all involved.
With the catchline you would be excused for expecting some grandiose epic plots but what we get is far more banal (or maybe I'm just blasée) which makes it all the more sad and bleak.
There is a lot of ground covered in this book including the lead up to Lumumba's rise to power so if you have little to no knowledge of Congolese history you won't struggle with it. That being said it also goes into enough detail that if you have general knowledge of that part of history you might still learn so interesting bit.
Although it is very much in the "burn your idols" vein if you've absorbed the idea that Lumumba was some kind of leftist heroic figure, I thought it came across as very honest and that Reid tried his best to be fair to all involved.
With the catchline you would be excused for expecting some grandiose epic plots but what we get is far more banal (or maybe I'm just blasée) which makes it all the more sad and bleak.
There is a lot of ground covered in this book including the lead up to Lumumba's rise to power so if you have little to no knowledge of Congolese history you won't struggle with it. That being said it also goes into enough detail that if you have general knowledge of that part of history you might still learn so interesting bit.
January 4, 2024
This exhaustive piece of investigative journalism, predicated around the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s movement for independence in 1959-1960, read more like a page turning spy thriller, rather than a well-researched book covering the history of one country’s tumultuous break from colonial rule.
In The Lumumba Plot, Stuart Reid takes on an ambitious goal in trying to definitively answer a nearly 65-year-old question: who exactly was responsible for the murder of the country’s first democratically elected prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, how did it happen, what was done or not done by different powers (the Belgians, the UN, the US, and the Congolese themselves) to cause or prevent this reprehensible assassination?
It’s a story of a charismatic young black man, who, from a very young age, embarked on a journey to live a better life than the one he was born into. Along the way and through his studies, this young man - Patrice Lumumba - came to want the same good things and equality for all of his fellow countrymen and African nations as a whole.
His impassioned and gifted oratorical skills helped him to become one of his city’s évolués - a privileged position among native Congolese whom were the “poster children of colonialism’s civilizing mission” - men infused with European mannerisms, and thus afforded special legal status and privileges unknown to their uneducated families back home.
It is simultaneously fascinating and utterly horrifying to read the chaotic events that played out following Lumumba’s run and victory for the first prime ministership of the free Congo.
Lumumba may have been able to draw large crowds and massive support with his fiery words and larger-than-life presence, but he soon found out just how difficult the job would be that he so desperately wanted. He had little formal education outside of a high school diploma, being mostly self-taught in languages, politics and history by reading copious amounts of books.
What was worse, however, was his inability to understand just how difficult it would be to govern such a large and divided country (thanks largely to arbitrary African lines drawn by European powers who had no knowledge of the people they were grouping together, nor of tribal/ethnic conflict).
Given the whole “Red Scare” going on at the time, and the United States’s desire to implement its own policies abroad (out of sheer hubris and little regard for the different needs of different cultures) they fabricated many falsehoods about Lumumba. Believing he was a potential Soviet puppet (or could become one), the US and CIA started in the Congo what would become their playbook for many other nations throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s - assassinate or overthrow a democratically elected leader of a newly independent country.
They would then replace this dismissed leader with a despotic ruler that would take American bribes and answer to the United States in exchange for mostly unlimited power and rule over their subjects - in the Congo’s case, Lumumba’s onetime childhood friend and political ally, Joseph Mobutu.
Mobutu wavered in the beginning over betraying his friend, but seeing how overwhelmed and frustrated Lumumba was - very often to the degree of downright disrespectful and unprofessional, in Mobutu’s opinion - decided to use his sway over the Congolese army to grab the presidency from Lumumba in a CIA-backed coup, disposing of his old friend in a torturous and unceremonious death to rule the country for 32 bloody and terrifying years.
It really makes you furious with the so-called “civilized” nations and their interference with foreign countries, whose business they had no right to intervene in. It also makes you wonder if the Congo might be very different place from the country it is today, were Lumumba kept in charge to keep foreign influence out.
Would the Congolese people live better lives than the ones they live now - as mostly subjugated and exploited peoples to wealthier foreign interests and corrupt government officials - dirt poor, starving, illiterate, prone to illness without adequate medical care? It’s hard to say. It’s also hard to argue that it could be much worse for them. All that’s left is to wonder what might have been.
An excellent read… recommend to all history fans or those wanting to learn how certain governments came together to rule in the way they do today. I can’t believe how quickly I sped through it. It’s truly that fascinating.
In The Lumumba Plot, Stuart Reid takes on an ambitious goal in trying to definitively answer a nearly 65-year-old question: who exactly was responsible for the murder of the country’s first democratically elected prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, how did it happen, what was done or not done by different powers (the Belgians, the UN, the US, and the Congolese themselves) to cause or prevent this reprehensible assassination?
It’s a story of a charismatic young black man, who, from a very young age, embarked on a journey to live a better life than the one he was born into. Along the way and through his studies, this young man - Patrice Lumumba - came to want the same good things and equality for all of his fellow countrymen and African nations as a whole.
His impassioned and gifted oratorical skills helped him to become one of his city’s évolués - a privileged position among native Congolese whom were the “poster children of colonialism’s civilizing mission” - men infused with European mannerisms, and thus afforded special legal status and privileges unknown to their uneducated families back home.
It is simultaneously fascinating and utterly horrifying to read the chaotic events that played out following Lumumba’s run and victory for the first prime ministership of the free Congo.
Lumumba may have been able to draw large crowds and massive support with his fiery words and larger-than-life presence, but he soon found out just how difficult the job would be that he so desperately wanted. He had little formal education outside of a high school diploma, being mostly self-taught in languages, politics and history by reading copious amounts of books.
What was worse, however, was his inability to understand just how difficult it would be to govern such a large and divided country (thanks largely to arbitrary African lines drawn by European powers who had no knowledge of the people they were grouping together, nor of tribal/ethnic conflict).
Given the whole “Red Scare” going on at the time, and the United States’s desire to implement its own policies abroad (out of sheer hubris and little regard for the different needs of different cultures) they fabricated many falsehoods about Lumumba. Believing he was a potential Soviet puppet (or could become one), the US and CIA started in the Congo what would become their playbook for many other nations throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s - assassinate or overthrow a democratically elected leader of a newly independent country.
They would then replace this dismissed leader with a despotic ruler that would take American bribes and answer to the United States in exchange for mostly unlimited power and rule over their subjects - in the Congo’s case, Lumumba’s onetime childhood friend and political ally, Joseph Mobutu.
Mobutu wavered in the beginning over betraying his friend, but seeing how overwhelmed and frustrated Lumumba was - very often to the degree of downright disrespectful and unprofessional, in Mobutu’s opinion - decided to use his sway over the Congolese army to grab the presidency from Lumumba in a CIA-backed coup, disposing of his old friend in a torturous and unceremonious death to rule the country for 32 bloody and terrifying years.
It really makes you furious with the so-called “civilized” nations and their interference with foreign countries, whose business they had no right to intervene in. It also makes you wonder if the Congo might be very different place from the country it is today, were Lumumba kept in charge to keep foreign influence out.
Would the Congolese people live better lives than the ones they live now - as mostly subjugated and exploited peoples to wealthier foreign interests and corrupt government officials - dirt poor, starving, illiterate, prone to illness without adequate medical care? It’s hard to say. It’s also hard to argue that it could be much worse for them. All that’s left is to wonder what might have been.
An excellent read… recommend to all history fans or those wanting to learn how certain governments came together to rule in the way they do today. I can’t believe how quickly I sped through it. It’s truly that fascinating.
January 5, 2024
very well written and researched, i felt it was missing the Congolese perspective. Like the CIA think Lumumba is a demagogue, uneducated, APE!!, but what do the Congolese think, why was he so popular? what were his ideas and not just he was a persuasive speaker because he sold beers. I left disappointed with the colonial perspective that this ironically portrayed because then the Congolese are painted as an uneducated mass following whoever when that can't be true?! where is their autonomy? what is driving the secession, what's happening in the military?! maybe the point was for the audience to see Lumumba through a colonizers eyes? i felt like Lumumba was so minimized and one-dimensional. Same with Kasavubu, Mobutu was better. Overall, I think I was not the intended audience for this book. But I did learn a lot and it was easy to read too. Just some things tickled my pet peeves. The next time I see "Congo a country of vast wealth- their natural resources" I may puke!
January 5, 2024
Amazing read. Was so detailed, full of information, but still so easy to read. It never got borning. I guess it helps that the topic is just so interesting.
For anyone wanting to learn about the history of modern Congo (DRC), its first PM Patrice Lumumba and his tragic fate, Dag Hammerssköld (UN General secretary and his tragic fate), Mobutu, the CIA, etc.
Important read for anyone wanting to understand modern Congo. Highly recommended
For anyone wanting to learn about the history of modern Congo (DRC), its first PM Patrice Lumumba and his tragic fate, Dag Hammerssköld (UN General secretary and his tragic fate), Mobutu, the CIA, etc.
Important read for anyone wanting to understand modern Congo. Highly recommended
August 22, 2023
I loved this book. It details the end of Belgian colonialism in the Congo, the subsequent rise to power of Patrice Lumumba, his swift and tragic decline, lots of behind the scenes dealings and movements of government agencies and how the Congo was caught in the middle of a cold war struggle leading to disastrous consequences. The story of Patrice Lumumba is an event that I’ve only heard of briefly mentioned in other books and when I saw that this was coming out, it instantly became one of my most anticipated books of the year. I’ve got pretty limited knowledge of African history and politics but this book was easily accessible and would be enjoyable for anyone with an interest in the subject whether you’re well versed or not. Coming in at over 600 pages, it’s a hefty book but held my intrigue throughout. If you’re interested in the behind the scenes workings/meddlings of the CIA, UN this book whets the appetite. A compelling piece of investigative reporting, it reads like a John LeCarre spy novel and I can’t recommend it enough. 5 stars. Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for an advanced digital copy of the book.
August 19, 2024
To get this out of the way: The CIA angle implied by the cover is bait.
The main text generally acknowledges this, though CIA station chief Larry Devlin gets a disproportionate amount of text compared to the very real movers and shakers amongst the Belgians (who often just get described as “the Belgians”).
It is correct the CIA was involved in that it contributed materially to Mobutu’s rise post Lumumba, but its actual contribution to Lumumba’s downfall was limited and mainly related to implied permissions for others to act. A US president (Eisenhower) does appear to have ordered an assassination of a foreign leader but I suspect that Reid included certain elements with an eye to an American audience.
I can understand that (books do have to be sold and the US is a major market) so I am not too tetchy about it. The mechanics around Lumumba’s fall and the centrifugal forces dividing the Congo are well described – the details around the original army rebellion are limited but we get enough of a feel. Lumumba was in over his head, ran into overblown fears of Communist sympathies, and was eventually cast aside for a “reliable” replacement.
I also want to credit The Lumumba Plot for how many things I learnt that I was previously unaware of:
- The problems of Belgium’s rule and subsequent interventions stretch fair beyond King Leopold’s sins.
- Lumumba’s rule was very short (he spent more time as a former Prime Minister than as an actual one) and he made choices (such as international trips) that suggest a lack of a firm hand of governance, falling back on pointless repression very late in the piece.
- The UN really had potential to be a major power in global politics but its activities in the Congo (and Katanga) was a critical missed opportunity.
So, with the caveat about what is implied on the cover versus what is in the book, this is an excellent introduction to the rocky road of decolonisation in Africa with many fantastic details. The writing is strong and easy to work through.
The main text generally acknowledges this, though CIA station chief Larry Devlin gets a disproportionate amount of text compared to the very real movers and shakers amongst the Belgians (who often just get described as “the Belgians”).
It is correct the CIA was involved in that it contributed materially to Mobutu’s rise post Lumumba, but its actual contribution to Lumumba’s downfall was limited and mainly related to implied permissions for others to act. A US president (Eisenhower) does appear to have ordered an assassination of a foreign leader but I suspect that Reid included certain elements with an eye to an American audience.
I can understand that (books do have to be sold and the US is a major market) so I am not too tetchy about it. The mechanics around Lumumba’s fall and the centrifugal forces dividing the Congo are well described – the details around the original army rebellion are limited but we get enough of a feel. Lumumba was in over his head, ran into overblown fears of Communist sympathies, and was eventually cast aside for a “reliable” replacement.
I also want to credit The Lumumba Plot for how many things I learnt that I was previously unaware of:
- The problems of Belgium’s rule and subsequent interventions stretch fair beyond King Leopold’s sins.
- Lumumba’s rule was very short (he spent more time as a former Prime Minister than as an actual one) and he made choices (such as international trips) that suggest a lack of a firm hand of governance, falling back on pointless repression very late in the piece.
- The UN really had potential to be a major power in global politics but its activities in the Congo (and Katanga) was a critical missed opportunity.
So, with the caveat about what is implied on the cover versus what is in the book, this is an excellent introduction to the rocky road of decolonisation in Africa with many fantastic details. The writing is strong and easy to work through.
April 3, 2024
Read as a jury for the Booktube prize
My Ranking - 1st out of the 6 books (Best book out of the list!)
Rating - 5 stars
NPS - 10 (promoter)
American ignorance often went hand in hand with racist attitudes toward the Congolese people and their leaders. U.S. and UN cable traffic during the Congo crisis is rife with paternalism and exasperation with the “children” running the newly independent country, including the “little boy” Lumumba. What the Congolese needed, they seemed to suggest, was supervision and control.
This is one of my best political non-fiction that I have read in a long time. This page-turner of a read is a step-by-step elaboration of the disaster Congo had to face with the announcement of their Independence from Belgium.
The book explores the racism, the Cold War and the history of the Congo from pre-1960 to 1961 and the decolonization of a depraved country at the hands of white colonisers.
A brilliant read, well-written and researched, and I must say, this should be on your list of reads this year.
My Ranking - 1st out of the 6 books (Best book out of the list!)
Rating - 5 stars
NPS - 10 (promoter)
American ignorance often went hand in hand with racist attitudes toward the Congolese people and their leaders. U.S. and UN cable traffic during the Congo crisis is rife with paternalism and exasperation with the “children” running the newly independent country, including the “little boy” Lumumba. What the Congolese needed, they seemed to suggest, was supervision and control.
This is one of my best political non-fiction that I have read in a long time. This page-turner of a read is a step-by-step elaboration of the disaster Congo had to face with the announcement of their Independence from Belgium.
The book explores the racism, the Cold War and the history of the Congo from pre-1960 to 1961 and the decolonization of a depraved country at the hands of white colonisers.
A brilliant read, well-written and researched, and I must say, this should be on your list of reads this year.
March 25, 2024
The Lumumba Plot
Kudos to Stuart A. Reid for an excellent and well balanced history. This is a long book both because the author develops a lot of the historical backstories for many of the main characters and because it is impeccably researched.
This new history covers the brief Patrice Lumumba era of Congo's independence movement around 1960. This revolutionary period followed nearly one hundred years of Belgian Colonialism and the horror that was brought by King Leopold II.
Eisenhower, Dulles and the CIA all played a role in Lumumba's demise. The tragedy of Dag Hammarskjold the UN secretary and his questionable role in arming UN forces in the Congo are also covered deftly. Of course there are many more characters including Mobutu who was Lumumba's protege and betrayer. Joseph Mobutu went on to rule as a dictator for 35 years with the U.S. blessing. Or at least he had the CIA's backing in the critical early years.
The CIA's complicity in the revolution is disturbing to be sure and I don't want to minimize it. But in the midst of the Cold War era, there was no plausible communist threat to U.S. The CIA had no prior trade or relationship with the Belgian Congo but they were spooked when Lumumba went to the Russians for weapons. Anyway the parts of this book outside the CIA and Larry Devin the station chief are more interesting in my opinion.
So I can highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the story of 20th century Congo. If you enjoyed Leopold's Ghost and are okay with some very heavy topics, I think you'll like this one too.
5 stars
Kudos to Stuart A. Reid for an excellent and well balanced history. This is a long book both because the author develops a lot of the historical backstories for many of the main characters and because it is impeccably researched.
This new history covers the brief Patrice Lumumba era of Congo's independence movement around 1960. This revolutionary period followed nearly one hundred years of Belgian Colonialism and the horror that was brought by King Leopold II.
Eisenhower, Dulles and the CIA all played a role in Lumumba's demise. The tragedy of Dag Hammarskjold the UN secretary and his questionable role in arming UN forces in the Congo are also covered deftly. Of course there are many more characters including Mobutu who was Lumumba's protege and betrayer. Joseph Mobutu went on to rule as a dictator for 35 years with the U.S. blessing. Or at least he had the CIA's backing in the critical early years.
The CIA's complicity in the revolution is disturbing to be sure and I don't want to minimize it. But in the midst of the Cold War era, there was no plausible communist threat to U.S. The CIA had no prior trade or relationship with the Belgian Congo but they were spooked when Lumumba went to the Russians for weapons. Anyway the parts of this book outside the CIA and Larry Devin the station chief are more interesting in my opinion.
So I can highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the story of 20th century Congo. If you enjoyed Leopold's Ghost and are okay with some very heavy topics, I think you'll like this one too.
5 stars
December 23, 2024
There are few countries with a more tragic history than Congo. 'The Lumumba Plot' zooms in on one deeply sad chapter: the chilling murder in 1961 of the newly independent country's first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, for which - the books convincingly demonstrates - the US, the Belgians and to some extent even the UN are responsible (even if it were Katanga rebels who ultimately pulled the trigger).
I believe the book tries to paint a fair and balanced picture of the now legendary Lumumba, who was impulsive, erratic and naive but also supremely talented, an outstanding communicator and superior to any of the other powerful men in Congolese politics at the time (Tshombe, Kasavubu, Mobutu). He was almost always right, but in international politics sometimes it is better not to tell the truth.
It was American arrogance combined with surprising amateurism and an irrational fear of anything that even smelled like communism that caused the US (in particular the CIA led by Dulles, but also Eisenhower himself) to lose faith in Lumumba and ultimately give him up. The book gives a detailed yet fast-paced account of the events leading up to the crime, from the struggle for independence from Belgium to the UN-intervention led by Dag Hammarskjold.
David van Reybrouck's "Congo" is probably my favourite non-fiction book of all time, but this one is an excellent companion zooming in on a crucial point that plunged the country into an ever deepening crisis.
It is tempting to speculate what would have happened had Lumumba been given a fair chance...
I believe the book tries to paint a fair and balanced picture of the now legendary Lumumba, who was impulsive, erratic and naive but also supremely talented, an outstanding communicator and superior to any of the other powerful men in Congolese politics at the time (Tshombe, Kasavubu, Mobutu). He was almost always right, but in international politics sometimes it is better not to tell the truth.
It was American arrogance combined with surprising amateurism and an irrational fear of anything that even smelled like communism that caused the US (in particular the CIA led by Dulles, but also Eisenhower himself) to lose faith in Lumumba and ultimately give him up. The book gives a detailed yet fast-paced account of the events leading up to the crime, from the struggle for independence from Belgium to the UN-intervention led by Dag Hammarskjold.
David van Reybrouck's "Congo" is probably my favourite non-fiction book of all time, but this one is an excellent companion zooming in on a crucial point that plunged the country into an ever deepening crisis.
It is tempting to speculate what would have happened had Lumumba been given a fair chance...
January 5, 2024
Reid covers it all in this thrilling (and chilling) tale of a notorious political assassination. The author walks the reader through seemingly every detail behind the assassination of Congo Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba in the early years of the Cold War. Of particular note is his exhumation of the United Nations presence during this time -- including background on Dag Hammarskjöld -- as an analysis of the organization's early days (and early failures). Despite being lengthy, it was no difficulty to keep reading; each page beckoned like the one before.
I read an advanced reader's copy of this book given to me by the publisher through a Goodreads giveaway.
I read an advanced reader's copy of this book given to me by the publisher through a Goodreads giveaway.
January 21, 2025
The early 1960s was a period of decolonization in Africa. European countries had come to the realization that the burden of empire no longer warranted the cost and commitment to maintain them, except in the case where it was suspected that the Soviet Union was building a communist base. One of the countries which was trying to throw off the colonial yoke was the Congo and separate itself from its Belgian overlords. In 1960 it finally achieved independence and was led by a controversial figure, Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, a man who was ideologically an African nationalist and Pan-Africanist. However, soon after the Congo gained its freedom its army mutinied. The result was chaos and a movement by its Katanga province which was rich in mineral resources and led by Moise Tshombe to secede. What made the situation complex was that Lumumba was the country’s Prime Minister, and his president Joseph Kasavubu were often at loggerheads politically. Further, an army Colonel, Joseph Mobutu was placed in charge of the new Congolese army, the ANC who at times was loyal to Lumumba, and at times was in the pay of the CIA. The United Nations under the leadership of Dag Hammarskjold sought to try and end the chaos and bring a semblance of a parliamentary system to the Congo which in the end was beyond his reach.
The early 1960s witnessed the height of the Cold War, Moscow would aid the new government and sought to spread its influence throughout Central Africa and gain a share of its mineral wealth. Washington’s response was predictable as it worked overtly and covertly to block the spread of Soviet influence and its communist ideology. The background that led up to Congolese independence and subsequent events is expertly told by Stuart A. Reid’s new book, THE LUMUMBA PLOT: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE CIA AND A COLD WAR ASSASSINATION. The title of the book is a little misleading as the book does not focus much on the CIA in the Congo as it concentrates more on the concern of diplomats in the UN and a series of plots in Leopoldville. The international panic over the havoc in the Congo, Reid writes, helped to transform the Cold War “into a truly global struggle.” The monograph recounts numerous personalities and movements which exhibited shifting positions throughout the narrative. With Lumumba’s continuous machinations President Eisenhower’s inherent racism and anti-communism emerged along with his perceptions of Soviet actions which in the end led to the Congolese Prime Minister’s assassination by the CIA.
If one examines the American approach to emerging nations and the Soviet Union during this period it is clear that if a leader labeled himself a nationalist or a neutralist, Washington labeled him a communist. The American foreign policy establishment was convinced for decades that nationalism and communism were one and the same and presented similar threats to American interests. A nationalist is someone who believes that their country should be ruled by their countrymen, not a government imposed from the outside. Historian, Blanche Wiesen Cook’s THE DECLASSIFIED EISENHOWER outlines the Eisenhower administration’s approach to nationalist leaders in the 1950s exploring the overthrow of Mohammed Mossadegh In Iran, Colonel Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala, a coup in Syria called off because of the Suez Crisis, attempts to remove Fidel Castro in Cuba, and of course events in the Congo. This approach continued under the Kennedy administration leading to errors resulting in disastrous approaches toward Vietnam, Cuba, and the Congo as these leaders of these countries believed they had a target on their backs. As a result, they would turn to the Soviet Union for aid which of course Premier Nikita Khrushchev was more than happy to provide.
In 1974 in the US Senate, the Church Committee learned about CIA coups, assassinations and other methods employed to influence foreign governments all in the name of American strategic interests as it did in dealing with Lumumba. The most important question that the author raises is who killed Lumumba? The choices are varied; Belgium which had run their colony with cruelty since the late 19th century; United Nations officials drawn into the Congo on a peacekeeping mission; the CIA fearing Lumumba was moving too close to the Communist bloc; or a young army officer, Joseph Mobutu who installed himself as leader. Reid’s interpretation of events relies on a multitude of sources, drawing from forgotten testimonies, interviews with participants, diaries, private letters, scholarly histories, official investigations, government archives, diplomatic cables, and recently declassified CIA files.
The book pays careful attention to the role of the United States, its motivations, unscrupulous methods, the damage that was inflicted on the Congo, and how US officials displayed racist contempt for the Congolese, particularly members of the Eisenhower administration. According to Reid, “the CIA and its station chief in the Congo, Larry Devlin, had a hand in nearly every major development leading up to Lumumba’s murder, from his fall from power to his forceful transfer into rebel-held territory on the day of his death.” Events in the region would reverberate far beyond the Congo as its short-lived failure of democracy resulted in poverty, dictatorship, and war for decades. Further it would claim the life of Dag Hammarskjold who was killed under mysterious circumstances during a peacemaking visit to the Congo months after Lumumba’s murder. The mission to the Congo was seen as a dangerous misadventure, and the UN never fully recovered from the damage to its reputation because of what occurred.
Reid details a brief history of Belgian colonization in the Congo. Ivory and rubber were a source of wealth, and their occupation was extremely cruel as depicted in Joseph Conrad’s HEART OF DARKNESS. For a more modern view of this period and Brussel’s heartlessness see Adam Hochschild’s KING LEOPOLD’S GHOST. Despite allowing the Congo’s independence, in large part due to outside pressure, Belgium would work behind the scenes to undermine Lumumba and his government until his death and after. The question is what did Lumumba believe? The governments sitting in Brussels and Washington were convinced that Lumumba was pro-communism and particularly vulnerable to Soviet influence. In fact, Reid argues that all the available evidence suggests he favored the United States over the Soviet Union. The problem was the prejudice against Africa which dismissed any possibility that an African man could successfully lead an African country. Ultimately, Lumumba’s fate is part of a larger story of unprecedented hope giving way to an unrelenting tragedy.
Mr. Reid tells an engrossing storyteller who guides us from events in Leopoldville and Stanleyville to negotiations in New York at the UN, Washington at the National Security Council, and the halls of the Belgian government in Brussels. The tragedy that unfolds is expertly told by the author as he introduces the most important characters in this historical episode. In the Congo, the most important obviously is Lumumba whose background did not lend itself to national leadership. He was a beer salesman, postal clerk who embezzled funds, and a bookworm who was self-educated. He would be elected Prime Minister and formed his only government on June 24, 1960, with formal independence arriving on June 30th. Other important characters include Joseph Kasavubu, Moise Tshombe, and Joseph Mobutu who all play major roles as Congolese political and ethnic particularism, in addition to Lumumba’s impulsive decision making and messianic belief in himself created even more problems.
For the United States, the American Ambassador to the Congo, Clare Timberlake convinced the UN to send troops to the Congo had a very low opinion of Lumumba as did CIA Station Chief Joseph Devlin who would be in charge of his assassination. President Eisenhower’s racial proclivities and looking at the post-colonial period through a European lens interfered with decision making as he ordered Lumumba’s death. He believed that Lumumba was “ignorant, very suspicious, shrewd, but immature in his ideas – the smallest scope of any of the African leaders.” CIA head, Allen W. Dulles called Lumumba “anti-western.” The UN plays a significant role led by Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold who tried to manipulate the situation that would support the United States, and he too thought that Lumumba was shrewd, but bordered on “craziness.” Ralph Bunche who made his reputation in 1948 negotiating with Arabs and Israelis did his best to bring the Congolese to some sort of agreement, but in the end failed. For Russia, Nikita Khruschev at first did not trust Lumumba, but soon realized there was an opportunity to spread Soviet influence and agreed to supply military aid to the Congolese army. Reid integrates many other characters as he tries to present conversations, decisions, and orders that greatly influenced the political situation.
The strength of the book lies in the author’s treatment of President Eisenhower’s and the CIA’s responsibility in the coup d’etat. The CIA persuaded Colonel Mobutu to orchestrate a coup on September 14. When the coup went nowhere the CIA turned to assassins who failed to carry out their mission. A scheme to inject poison in Lumumba’s toothpaste also went nowhere. In the end Patrice Lumumba at age thirty-five was murdered by Congolese rivals with Belgian assistance in early 1961, three days before John F. Kennedy who espoused anti-colonial rhetoric during his presidential campaign took office. Two years later Kennedy would welcome Mobutu Sese Seko who would rule the Congo, later called Zaire with an iron fist for thirty-two years to the White House.
Reid delves deeply into the personal relationships of the characters mentioned above. Attempts to get Tshombe to reverse his decision to secede from the Congo is of the utmost importance. Trying to get Lumumba and Kasavubu to cooperate with each other was difficult. Reid does an admirable job going behind the scenes as decisions are reached. The maneuvering among all parties is presented. Apart from internal Congolese intrigue the presentation of the US National Security Council as Eisenhower, Gordon Gray, the National Security advisor, Allen W. Dulles, and Secretary of State Christian Herter concluded before the end of Eisenhower’s presidential term that Lumumba was a threat to newly independent African states in addition to his own. In fact, at an August 8, 1960, National Security Council meeting , Eisenhower seemed to give an order to eliminate the Congolese Prime Minister.
The role of Belgium is important particularly the June-August 1960 period as an intransigent Lumumba and an equally stubborn Belgium could not agree on the withdrawal of Belgian troops even after independence was announced. Belgium’s Foreign Minister, Pierre Wigney felt Lumumba was incompetent so how could Belgium reach a deal that could be trusted. Belgian obfuscation, misinformation, and cruelty stand out as it sought to leave the Congo on its own terms.
Another major player for the US was Sidney Gottlieb, who headlines a chapter entitled “Sid from Paris,” a scientist and the CIA’s master chemist who made his reputation experimenting with LSD as an expert in developing and deploying poison. He would meet with Devlin on September 19, 1960, and pass along the botulinum toxin which was designed to kill Lumumba but was never used.
Nicholas Niachos’ review in the New York Times, entitled “Did the C.I.A. Kill Patrice Lumumba?” on October 17, 2023 zeroes in on the role of the Eisenhower administration in the conflict arguing that Reid presented “new evidence found at the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Reid tracked down the only written record of an order at an August 1960 National Security Council meeting with the president, during which a State Department official wrote a “bold X” next to Lumumba’s name. “Having just become the first-ever U.S. president to order the assassination of a foreign leader,” Reid writes of Eisenhower, “he headed to the whites-only Burning Tree Club in Bethesda, Md., to play 18 holes of golf.”
Lumumba is re-elevated by the end of Reid’s book, mainly through the sea of indignities he suffered as a captive. Particularly disturbing is an episode from late 1960. His wife gave birth prematurely and his daughter’s coffin was lost when neither of her parents was allowed to accompany it to its burial.
In 1961, Eisenhower’s fantasies of the Congolese leader’s death — he once said he hoped that “Lumumba would fall into a river full of crocodiles” — were fulfilled. Lumumba was captured after an escape attempt and shipped to Katanga, where a secessionists’ firing squad, supported by ex-colonial Belgians, executed him. Reid shows how the C.I.A. station chief in Katanga rejoiced when he learned of Lumumba’s arrival (“If we had known he was coming we would have baked a snake”) but doesn’t ultimately prove that the C.I.A. killed him.
The C.I.A. has long denied blame for the murder of Lumumba, but I still wondered why Reid doesn’t explore a curious story that surfaced in 1978, in a book called “In Search of Enemies,” by John Stockwell. Stockwell, a C.I.A. officer turned whistle-blower, reported that an agency officer in Katanga had told him about “driving about town after curfew with Patrice Lumumba’s body in the trunk of his car, trying to decide what to do with it,” and that, in the lead-up to his death, Lumumba was beaten, “apparently by men who were loyal to men who had agency cryptonyms and received agency salaries.”
Still, Reid argues convincingly that by ordering the assassination of Lumumba, the Eisenhower administration crossed a moral line that set a new low in the Cold War. Sid’s poison was never used — Reid says Devlin buried it beside the Congo River after Lumumba was imprisoned — but it might as well have been. Devlin paid protesters to undermine the prime minister; made the first of a long series of bribes to Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, the coup leader and colonel who would become Congo’s strongman; and delayed reporting Lumumba’s final abduction to the C.I.A. On this last point, Reid is definitive: Devlin’s “lack of protest could only have been interpreted as a green light. This silence sealed Lumumba’s fate.”
The early 1960s witnessed the height of the Cold War, Moscow would aid the new government and sought to spread its influence throughout Central Africa and gain a share of its mineral wealth. Washington’s response was predictable as it worked overtly and covertly to block the spread of Soviet influence and its communist ideology. The background that led up to Congolese independence and subsequent events is expertly told by Stuart A. Reid’s new book, THE LUMUMBA PLOT: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE CIA AND A COLD WAR ASSASSINATION. The title of the book is a little misleading as the book does not focus much on the CIA in the Congo as it concentrates more on the concern of diplomats in the UN and a series of plots in Leopoldville. The international panic over the havoc in the Congo, Reid writes, helped to transform the Cold War “into a truly global struggle.” The monograph recounts numerous personalities and movements which exhibited shifting positions throughout the narrative. With Lumumba’s continuous machinations President Eisenhower’s inherent racism and anti-communism emerged along with his perceptions of Soviet actions which in the end led to the Congolese Prime Minister’s assassination by the CIA.
If one examines the American approach to emerging nations and the Soviet Union during this period it is clear that if a leader labeled himself a nationalist or a neutralist, Washington labeled him a communist. The American foreign policy establishment was convinced for decades that nationalism and communism were one and the same and presented similar threats to American interests. A nationalist is someone who believes that their country should be ruled by their countrymen, not a government imposed from the outside. Historian, Blanche Wiesen Cook’s THE DECLASSIFIED EISENHOWER outlines the Eisenhower administration’s approach to nationalist leaders in the 1950s exploring the overthrow of Mohammed Mossadegh In Iran, Colonel Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala, a coup in Syria called off because of the Suez Crisis, attempts to remove Fidel Castro in Cuba, and of course events in the Congo. This approach continued under the Kennedy administration leading to errors resulting in disastrous approaches toward Vietnam, Cuba, and the Congo as these leaders of these countries believed they had a target on their backs. As a result, they would turn to the Soviet Union for aid which of course Premier Nikita Khrushchev was more than happy to provide.
In 1974 in the US Senate, the Church Committee learned about CIA coups, assassinations and other methods employed to influence foreign governments all in the name of American strategic interests as it did in dealing with Lumumba. The most important question that the author raises is who killed Lumumba? The choices are varied; Belgium which had run their colony with cruelty since the late 19th century; United Nations officials drawn into the Congo on a peacekeeping mission; the CIA fearing Lumumba was moving too close to the Communist bloc; or a young army officer, Joseph Mobutu who installed himself as leader. Reid’s interpretation of events relies on a multitude of sources, drawing from forgotten testimonies, interviews with participants, diaries, private letters, scholarly histories, official investigations, government archives, diplomatic cables, and recently declassified CIA files.
The book pays careful attention to the role of the United States, its motivations, unscrupulous methods, the damage that was inflicted on the Congo, and how US officials displayed racist contempt for the Congolese, particularly members of the Eisenhower administration. According to Reid, “the CIA and its station chief in the Congo, Larry Devlin, had a hand in nearly every major development leading up to Lumumba’s murder, from his fall from power to his forceful transfer into rebel-held territory on the day of his death.” Events in the region would reverberate far beyond the Congo as its short-lived failure of democracy resulted in poverty, dictatorship, and war for decades. Further it would claim the life of Dag Hammarskjold who was killed under mysterious circumstances during a peacemaking visit to the Congo months after Lumumba’s murder. The mission to the Congo was seen as a dangerous misadventure, and the UN never fully recovered from the damage to its reputation because of what occurred.
Reid details a brief history of Belgian colonization in the Congo. Ivory and rubber were a source of wealth, and their occupation was extremely cruel as depicted in Joseph Conrad’s HEART OF DARKNESS. For a more modern view of this period and Brussel’s heartlessness see Adam Hochschild’s KING LEOPOLD’S GHOST. Despite allowing the Congo’s independence, in large part due to outside pressure, Belgium would work behind the scenes to undermine Lumumba and his government until his death and after. The question is what did Lumumba believe? The governments sitting in Brussels and Washington were convinced that Lumumba was pro-communism and particularly vulnerable to Soviet influence. In fact, Reid argues that all the available evidence suggests he favored the United States over the Soviet Union. The problem was the prejudice against Africa which dismissed any possibility that an African man could successfully lead an African country. Ultimately, Lumumba’s fate is part of a larger story of unprecedented hope giving way to an unrelenting tragedy.
Mr. Reid tells an engrossing storyteller who guides us from events in Leopoldville and Stanleyville to negotiations in New York at the UN, Washington at the National Security Council, and the halls of the Belgian government in Brussels. The tragedy that unfolds is expertly told by the author as he introduces the most important characters in this historical episode. In the Congo, the most important obviously is Lumumba whose background did not lend itself to national leadership. He was a beer salesman, postal clerk who embezzled funds, and a bookworm who was self-educated. He would be elected Prime Minister and formed his only government on June 24, 1960, with formal independence arriving on June 30th. Other important characters include Joseph Kasavubu, Moise Tshombe, and Joseph Mobutu who all play major roles as Congolese political and ethnic particularism, in addition to Lumumba’s impulsive decision making and messianic belief in himself created even more problems.
For the United States, the American Ambassador to the Congo, Clare Timberlake convinced the UN to send troops to the Congo had a very low opinion of Lumumba as did CIA Station Chief Joseph Devlin who would be in charge of his assassination. President Eisenhower’s racial proclivities and looking at the post-colonial period through a European lens interfered with decision making as he ordered Lumumba’s death. He believed that Lumumba was “ignorant, very suspicious, shrewd, but immature in his ideas – the smallest scope of any of the African leaders.” CIA head, Allen W. Dulles called Lumumba “anti-western.” The UN plays a significant role led by Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold who tried to manipulate the situation that would support the United States, and he too thought that Lumumba was shrewd, but bordered on “craziness.” Ralph Bunche who made his reputation in 1948 negotiating with Arabs and Israelis did his best to bring the Congolese to some sort of agreement, but in the end failed. For Russia, Nikita Khruschev at first did not trust Lumumba, but soon realized there was an opportunity to spread Soviet influence and agreed to supply military aid to the Congolese army. Reid integrates many other characters as he tries to present conversations, decisions, and orders that greatly influenced the political situation.
The strength of the book lies in the author’s treatment of President Eisenhower’s and the CIA’s responsibility in the coup d’etat. The CIA persuaded Colonel Mobutu to orchestrate a coup on September 14. When the coup went nowhere the CIA turned to assassins who failed to carry out their mission. A scheme to inject poison in Lumumba’s toothpaste also went nowhere. In the end Patrice Lumumba at age thirty-five was murdered by Congolese rivals with Belgian assistance in early 1961, three days before John F. Kennedy who espoused anti-colonial rhetoric during his presidential campaign took office. Two years later Kennedy would welcome Mobutu Sese Seko who would rule the Congo, later called Zaire with an iron fist for thirty-two years to the White House.
Reid delves deeply into the personal relationships of the characters mentioned above. Attempts to get Tshombe to reverse his decision to secede from the Congo is of the utmost importance. Trying to get Lumumba and Kasavubu to cooperate with each other was difficult. Reid does an admirable job going behind the scenes as decisions are reached. The maneuvering among all parties is presented. Apart from internal Congolese intrigue the presentation of the US National Security Council as Eisenhower, Gordon Gray, the National Security advisor, Allen W. Dulles, and Secretary of State Christian Herter concluded before the end of Eisenhower’s presidential term that Lumumba was a threat to newly independent African states in addition to his own. In fact, at an August 8, 1960, National Security Council meeting , Eisenhower seemed to give an order to eliminate the Congolese Prime Minister.
The role of Belgium is important particularly the June-August 1960 period as an intransigent Lumumba and an equally stubborn Belgium could not agree on the withdrawal of Belgian troops even after independence was announced. Belgium’s Foreign Minister, Pierre Wigney felt Lumumba was incompetent so how could Belgium reach a deal that could be trusted. Belgian obfuscation, misinformation, and cruelty stand out as it sought to leave the Congo on its own terms.
Another major player for the US was Sidney Gottlieb, who headlines a chapter entitled “Sid from Paris,” a scientist and the CIA’s master chemist who made his reputation experimenting with LSD as an expert in developing and deploying poison. He would meet with Devlin on September 19, 1960, and pass along the botulinum toxin which was designed to kill Lumumba but was never used.
Nicholas Niachos’ review in the New York Times, entitled “Did the C.I.A. Kill Patrice Lumumba?” on October 17, 2023 zeroes in on the role of the Eisenhower administration in the conflict arguing that Reid presented “new evidence found at the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Reid tracked down the only written record of an order at an August 1960 National Security Council meeting with the president, during which a State Department official wrote a “bold X” next to Lumumba’s name. “Having just become the first-ever U.S. president to order the assassination of a foreign leader,” Reid writes of Eisenhower, “he headed to the whites-only Burning Tree Club in Bethesda, Md., to play 18 holes of golf.”
Lumumba is re-elevated by the end of Reid’s book, mainly through the sea of indignities he suffered as a captive. Particularly disturbing is an episode from late 1960. His wife gave birth prematurely and his daughter’s coffin was lost when neither of her parents was allowed to accompany it to its burial.
In 1961, Eisenhower’s fantasies of the Congolese leader’s death — he once said he hoped that “Lumumba would fall into a river full of crocodiles” — were fulfilled. Lumumba was captured after an escape attempt and shipped to Katanga, where a secessionists’ firing squad, supported by ex-colonial Belgians, executed him. Reid shows how the C.I.A. station chief in Katanga rejoiced when he learned of Lumumba’s arrival (“If we had known he was coming we would have baked a snake”) but doesn’t ultimately prove that the C.I.A. killed him.
The C.I.A. has long denied blame for the murder of Lumumba, but I still wondered why Reid doesn’t explore a curious story that surfaced in 1978, in a book called “In Search of Enemies,” by John Stockwell. Stockwell, a C.I.A. officer turned whistle-blower, reported that an agency officer in Katanga had told him about “driving about town after curfew with Patrice Lumumba’s body in the trunk of his car, trying to decide what to do with it,” and that, in the lead-up to his death, Lumumba was beaten, “apparently by men who were loyal to men who had agency cryptonyms and received agency salaries.”
Still, Reid argues convincingly that by ordering the assassination of Lumumba, the Eisenhower administration crossed a moral line that set a new low in the Cold War. Sid’s poison was never used — Reid says Devlin buried it beside the Congo River after Lumumba was imprisoned — but it might as well have been. Devlin paid protesters to undermine the prime minister; made the first of a long series of bribes to Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, the coup leader and colonel who would become Congo’s strongman; and delayed reporting Lumumba’s final abduction to the C.I.A. On this last point, Reid is definitive: Devlin’s “lack of protest could only have been interpreted as a green light. This silence sealed Lumumba’s fate.”
September 21, 2024
(Audiobook) (4.5 stars) If you live in America, you probably don’t think much about the Congo, or particularly, the country now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. You might think just when or why would the US ever get involved with the affairs of the Congo. Yet, in the late 1950s/early 1960s, a key focus area for US foreign policy was the Congo. As it transitioned from Belgian colony to independent nation, the actions of its charismatic leader Lumumba, along with consternation of its former Belgian colonists plus Cold War politics, saw the US get into the political life of the Congo. Ultimately, the US backed Mobutu, a military figure that initially helped out Lumumba in trying to stabilize the country in its drive for independence.
This is a very informative read, especially for those who have little understanding or insight into the Congo and US actions in the early 1960s. The Western view of the Congo is as maddening to read now as it must have been for any Congolese in the mid-20th century. Europe and America had no understanding of life for the country, the people or the culture. Thus, so many decisions were made that ultimately set the Congo back in any attempt to move forward post-colonialism. Also, Belgium comes off looking really, really, really bad here, as they subjugated the country, long after the country took the colony away from King Leopold II. They wrecked the infrastructure and handicaped the country so much that they (DROC) are still paying for it.
This book does not put a lot of players in a good light, from the West to those in power in the Congo/Zaire/Democratic Republic of Congo. It is a sad tale, and it doesn’t look like the future is all that much better. Still, this work offers insight into many of the actions that did much to hinder the nation.
This is a very informative read, especially for those who have little understanding or insight into the Congo and US actions in the early 1960s. The Western view of the Congo is as maddening to read now as it must have been for any Congolese in the mid-20th century. Europe and America had no understanding of life for the country, the people or the culture. Thus, so many decisions were made that ultimately set the Congo back in any attempt to move forward post-colonialism. Also, Belgium comes off looking really, really, really bad here, as they subjugated the country, long after the country took the colony away from King Leopold II. They wrecked the infrastructure and handicaped the country so much that they (DROC) are still paying for it.
This book does not put a lot of players in a good light, from the West to those in power in the Congo/Zaire/Democratic Republic of Congo. It is a sad tale, and it doesn’t look like the future is all that much better. Still, this work offers insight into many of the actions that did much to hinder the nation.
February 4, 2024
I've known the bones of the Lumumba Plot a while..it is difficult to not run into such a salacious story at some point. poison! toothpaste! the CIA being nefarious!
I didn't feel like I needed to subject myself to a book outlining how destructive American blundering can be. All I have to do for that is turn on the news. BUT I heard an interview with the author on a podcast. He was calm and level headed and made a point that his book didn't just focus on the Americans. He wanted to take Lumumba out of the realm of myth and give context to his life and his country and how the world reacted, especially The U.N.
I am so glad I read this book. It made me feel comfortable in an unfamiliar setting and gave me confidence making connections with our larger history. For example: why the U.N needed a new President ,how the situation was different from the Suez Crisis, why the Belgian Congo was even more stratified than other colonized places, why Eisenhower was tired and uninterested in Africa and how Kennedy took advantage of that. And why a unified Congo was such a difficult thing to organize.
If you have the slightest interest in learning about the past to understand where we are today this book is a must read.
I didn't feel like I needed to subject myself to a book outlining how destructive American blundering can be. All I have to do for that is turn on the news. BUT I heard an interview with the author on a podcast. He was calm and level headed and made a point that his book didn't just focus on the Americans. He wanted to take Lumumba out of the realm of myth and give context to his life and his country and how the world reacted, especially The U.N.
I am so glad I read this book. It made me feel comfortable in an unfamiliar setting and gave me confidence making connections with our larger history. For example: why the U.N needed a new President ,how the situation was different from the Suez Crisis, why the Belgian Congo was even more stratified than other colonized places, why Eisenhower was tired and uninterested in Africa and how Kennedy took advantage of that. And why a unified Congo was such a difficult thing to organize.
If you have the slightest interest in learning about the past to understand where we are today this book is a must read.
January 1, 2024
1960 was called ‘the Year of Africa’ because it was a tumultuous and dramatic year in modern Africa’s history. Seventeen African colonies became independent nations that year, freeing themselves from France, Britain and Belgium. Ghana, which was independent already, abolished its monarchy and became a republic. The brutal Sharpeville massacre happened in South Africa, giving impetus to the anti-apartheid movement. Congo achieved independence from Belgium and its charismatic and temperamental leader, Patrice Lumumba, became the prime minister on June 30, 1960. Just seven months later, in January 1961, his Congolese political opponents murdered him. But many players hatched and aided the plot to murder him. They included his onetime friend and ally, Joseph Mobutu, and Joseph Kasavubu, the president of Congo. Many Belgian advisors of the rebel Katanga province, the CIA and the Eisenhower administration, and a passive United Nations also played their part. Congo descended further into crisis, and Mobutu's dictatorship lasted for decades, as did his allegiance to the West. This book by Stuart Reid is a spellbinding account of the seven months’ rule of Lumumba and Congo’s divisive politics in 1960-61. It covers Belgium’s perfidy and sabotage of Congo’s unity, and the role of the CIA and the Eisenhower administration in conspiring to assassinate a democratically elected leader of Africa.
Three mercurial figures, Patrice Lumumba, Moise Tshombe, and Joseph Mobutu, led Congo’s fight for independence. Patrice Lumumba was born in 1925 in the Kasai province of Belgian Congo, but grew up in Stanleyville (aka Kisangani). He didn’t go to university but was an auto-didact, studying French philosophers like Rousseau and Voltaire, and spoke French and at least four African languages. In the 1950s, Lumumba admired European civilization and nudged the Belgian rulers to educate the Congolese. He promised loyalty and collaboration in return, preferring limited freedom, in a federation with Belgium and the Belgian king as the head. After authorities arrested him for embezzling $2500 in his post office job and sentenced him to prison, his views changed. In prison, he experienced how badly the Belgian rulers treated the black people. On release, he moved to Leopoldville and spoke out against colonial rule and freeing Africans from the chains of European paternalism. With his charisma and oratory skills, Lumumba traveled the Congo and spoke about overcoming tribal division and forging a Congolese identity. The spirit of freedom was blowing across colonial Africa, with independence movements in many countries.
The province of Katanga in the south was mineral rich, and the Belgians coveted it. Katanga’s most popular leader was Moise Tshombe, who was wealthy, well-connected, and favored by Belgium. Tshombe exploited the Katangese prejudices against the Congolese who came to work their mines. He pushed for autonomy for his province and stood against a Congo ruled remotely from Leopoldville because he feared the other provinces might appropriate the wealth of Katanga. The Belgians backed him with finance and military.
Joseph Mobutu was Lumumba’s friend and colleague in the independence movement. But he was also a secret agent for the Belgians, passing information about Lumumba and others to the colonial authorities. Mobutu was influential in the army, and the soldiers respected him. After Congo achieved independence on June 30, 1960, Lumumba, as prime minister, made him his military chief.
Congo descended into crisis soon after independence. Belgians fled the country, leaving the remaining Belgians more insecure. Katangese also revolted and soon Tshombe declared Katanga’s independence with Belgian support. A month after Congo’s independence, Belgian soldiers marched into the capital, capturing all the airfields in the country. They advanced the need to protect remaining Belgians in the country as the excuse. Lumumba appealed to the UN to send UN soldiers to support his government as the legitimate power in the country. Dag Hammerskjoeld, the UN secretary general, was liberal in outlook, but he shared many of the prejudices of the era that prevailed in the West about Africa. To them, peace in Africa meant protecting the white population in the newly independent nations. The Western powers did not want to weaken Belgium in Congo and Hammerskjoeld followed the line by visiting Tshombe first on arrival in Congo. Protocol demanded that he meet with the prime minister Lumumba first. Hammerskjoeld viewed Lumumba as ignorant, inept, and unreliable. The United States was watching with interest, but President Eisenhower had a dim view of African politics and a prejudice against Lumumba as a communist sympathizer. When Lumumba visited Washington, DC, Eisenhower did not care to meet him.
Meanwhile, the mineral-rich Kasai province too revolted, seeking secession. Lumumba’s army unleashed violence on the revolt, killing thousands of people. It made ethnic minorities even more suspicious of Lumumba’s central government. Finding himself beleaguered by ethnic revolts, Belgian aggression and UN passivity, Lumumba appealed to the US for help. But the CIA and the administration preferred the removal of Lumumba from power. In desperation, Lumumba appealed to the Soviet Union, but they too were lukewarm in support. Khrushchev felt Kasavubu was a better bet than Lumumba. However, his appeal to the Soviets made the Americans edgy into believing he was a communist. In a crucial meeting in the White House on August 18, 1960, Robert Johnson was the official note taker for the meeting. He recalled that president Eisenhower told the CIA director Allen Dulles something that came across to him as an order to assassinate Lumumba.
Galvanized by this ‘order’, the CIA station in Congo set about making plans to ‘remove’ Lumumba by asking Kasavubu to fire him, which he can do as a president. In addition, they came up with other plans to poison Lumumba. On September 5, 1960, Kasavubu used his presidential powers and Lumumba’s tenure as PM for sixty-seven days ended. Lumumba was popular in some parts of the Congo. But the UN, the US, the Belgians, president Kasavubu, defence chief Mobutu and rebel leader, Tshombe breathed a sigh of relief at his departure.
Tragedy unfolded over the next months. Soon, Mobutu emerged as the supreme arbiter and power-broker and arrested Lumumba and kept him under house arrest. Lumumba escaped and headed to his home base of Stanleyville, but Mobutu’s forces captured him and housed him in Thysville, near the capital. Late on January 17, 1961, his Congolese enemies took him away on the pretext of transporting him to Katanga. On the way, they murdered Lumumba and his compatriots, Maurice Mpolo, and Joseph Okito. Author Reid says Lumumba had remained dignified till the end, despite torture and persecution. The authorities in Leopoldville hired Gerard Soete, a Belgian police commissioner, to make Lumumba’s remains ‘disappear’. Soete buried Lumumba’s body multiple times in different places, but found it unsatisfactory. Then, he used sulphuric acid to turn Lumumba’s body into a mass of mucus. After the acid ran out, Soete doused the remaining body parts with gasoline and set them aflame. The bones and teeth survived. Soete collected one of Lumumba’s fingers and a pair of his gold-capped molars as souvenirs, according to his daughter. Months later, Dag Hammerskjoeld died in a plane crash and Congo fell into a decades-long dictatorship of Joseph Mobutu.
By 1975, America acknowledged its regrettable conduct on the world stage during the 1960s. The Church committee in that year, chaired by the senator of Idaho, Frank Church, investigated many illegal overreaches by the US government. It covered FBI’s surveillance of left-wing groups, CIA’s mail-interception program, mind-control experiments, and alleged assassination plots against foreign leaders. Despite the committee's exoneration of the CIA on the ultimate death of Lumumba, author Reid highlights the US's accountability in it. The CIA played a role in every event leading up to Lumumba’s downfall and death. Five weeks after Lumumba became PM, the CIA urged Kasavubu to remove him from power and funded protests and propaganda, which made it easier for Kasavubu to do it. It encouraged Mobutu to assume power the same month by financing him. The CIA also recommended to Mobutu to organize for Lumumba’s ‘permanent disposal’ and prevented any compromise to let Lumumba return to power. When Lumumba escaped from his house arrest, the CIA helped Mobutu capture him and did nothing to stop their inhuman treatment of Lumumba. Last, when Lumumba was facing death, the CIA offered no dissent to its Congolese power brokers in going ahead. It kept Washington uninformed to prevent them from saving Lumumba.
The Congo had natural resources, but its most valuable resources were also present in greater quantities in North America. In 1960, it held no economic or political importance, was geographically isolated from the US and the USSR, and seen as a backwater. It represented no strategic threat to the US, housed no significant US commercial interests and few US citizens lived there. Nor was it contiguous to US territory. What made Congo so significant for US involvement at this level? Author Reid suggests the following reasons. One reason is the arrogance of power in the 1950s and 60s. America’s might gave it the right to remake foreign societies and governments in its own image. A second reason is the ‘domino theory’, which held that if one country fell to the communists, its neighbours would follow one by one. Though this theory lacked evidence in reality, it became an article of faith among US policy wonks. Once the US decided Congo was important, they assumed that the Soviets also considered it vital. Soviet archives after 1991 show that Moscow considered the Congo only of peripheral concern and Lumumba a doubtful ally. The obsession with communism made the US misjudge Lumumba. As leader of a poor third-world nation, he was just playing both sides of the cold war for his survival. Thomas Kanza, Congo’s ambassador to the UN, clarified it when he said, “The Americans believed Lumumba was a communist because the Belgians said so. They had little idea who Lumumba was”.
This is one of the best books I have read in recent times. With his pulsating narrative, Stuart Reid brings a real-life African national tragedy to life, sixty years after the event. It is gripping and narrated in the thrilling style of a Ben Macintyre work. Lumumba was a complex personality and Reid brings him to life in all his avatars, but we end up feeling for his death, despite his flaws. A deeper reflection on this book urges us to apply its lessons to many similar events in the contemporary world.
Three mercurial figures, Patrice Lumumba, Moise Tshombe, and Joseph Mobutu, led Congo’s fight for independence. Patrice Lumumba was born in 1925 in the Kasai province of Belgian Congo, but grew up in Stanleyville (aka Kisangani). He didn’t go to university but was an auto-didact, studying French philosophers like Rousseau and Voltaire, and spoke French and at least four African languages. In the 1950s, Lumumba admired European civilization and nudged the Belgian rulers to educate the Congolese. He promised loyalty and collaboration in return, preferring limited freedom, in a federation with Belgium and the Belgian king as the head. After authorities arrested him for embezzling $2500 in his post office job and sentenced him to prison, his views changed. In prison, he experienced how badly the Belgian rulers treated the black people. On release, he moved to Leopoldville and spoke out against colonial rule and freeing Africans from the chains of European paternalism. With his charisma and oratory skills, Lumumba traveled the Congo and spoke about overcoming tribal division and forging a Congolese identity. The spirit of freedom was blowing across colonial Africa, with independence movements in many countries.
The province of Katanga in the south was mineral rich, and the Belgians coveted it. Katanga’s most popular leader was Moise Tshombe, who was wealthy, well-connected, and favored by Belgium. Tshombe exploited the Katangese prejudices against the Congolese who came to work their mines. He pushed for autonomy for his province and stood against a Congo ruled remotely from Leopoldville because he feared the other provinces might appropriate the wealth of Katanga. The Belgians backed him with finance and military.
Joseph Mobutu was Lumumba’s friend and colleague in the independence movement. But he was also a secret agent for the Belgians, passing information about Lumumba and others to the colonial authorities. Mobutu was influential in the army, and the soldiers respected him. After Congo achieved independence on June 30, 1960, Lumumba, as prime minister, made him his military chief.
Congo descended into crisis soon after independence. Belgians fled the country, leaving the remaining Belgians more insecure. Katangese also revolted and soon Tshombe declared Katanga’s independence with Belgian support. A month after Congo’s independence, Belgian soldiers marched into the capital, capturing all the airfields in the country. They advanced the need to protect remaining Belgians in the country as the excuse. Lumumba appealed to the UN to send UN soldiers to support his government as the legitimate power in the country. Dag Hammerskjoeld, the UN secretary general, was liberal in outlook, but he shared many of the prejudices of the era that prevailed in the West about Africa. To them, peace in Africa meant protecting the white population in the newly independent nations. The Western powers did not want to weaken Belgium in Congo and Hammerskjoeld followed the line by visiting Tshombe first on arrival in Congo. Protocol demanded that he meet with the prime minister Lumumba first. Hammerskjoeld viewed Lumumba as ignorant, inept, and unreliable. The United States was watching with interest, but President Eisenhower had a dim view of African politics and a prejudice against Lumumba as a communist sympathizer. When Lumumba visited Washington, DC, Eisenhower did not care to meet him.
Meanwhile, the mineral-rich Kasai province too revolted, seeking secession. Lumumba’s army unleashed violence on the revolt, killing thousands of people. It made ethnic minorities even more suspicious of Lumumba’s central government. Finding himself beleaguered by ethnic revolts, Belgian aggression and UN passivity, Lumumba appealed to the US for help. But the CIA and the administration preferred the removal of Lumumba from power. In desperation, Lumumba appealed to the Soviet Union, but they too were lukewarm in support. Khrushchev felt Kasavubu was a better bet than Lumumba. However, his appeal to the Soviets made the Americans edgy into believing he was a communist. In a crucial meeting in the White House on August 18, 1960, Robert Johnson was the official note taker for the meeting. He recalled that president Eisenhower told the CIA director Allen Dulles something that came across to him as an order to assassinate Lumumba.
Galvanized by this ‘order’, the CIA station in Congo set about making plans to ‘remove’ Lumumba by asking Kasavubu to fire him, which he can do as a president. In addition, they came up with other plans to poison Lumumba. On September 5, 1960, Kasavubu used his presidential powers and Lumumba’s tenure as PM for sixty-seven days ended. Lumumba was popular in some parts of the Congo. But the UN, the US, the Belgians, president Kasavubu, defence chief Mobutu and rebel leader, Tshombe breathed a sigh of relief at his departure.
Tragedy unfolded over the next months. Soon, Mobutu emerged as the supreme arbiter and power-broker and arrested Lumumba and kept him under house arrest. Lumumba escaped and headed to his home base of Stanleyville, but Mobutu’s forces captured him and housed him in Thysville, near the capital. Late on January 17, 1961, his Congolese enemies took him away on the pretext of transporting him to Katanga. On the way, they murdered Lumumba and his compatriots, Maurice Mpolo, and Joseph Okito. Author Reid says Lumumba had remained dignified till the end, despite torture and persecution. The authorities in Leopoldville hired Gerard Soete, a Belgian police commissioner, to make Lumumba’s remains ‘disappear’. Soete buried Lumumba’s body multiple times in different places, but found it unsatisfactory. Then, he used sulphuric acid to turn Lumumba’s body into a mass of mucus. After the acid ran out, Soete doused the remaining body parts with gasoline and set them aflame. The bones and teeth survived. Soete collected one of Lumumba’s fingers and a pair of his gold-capped molars as souvenirs, according to his daughter. Months later, Dag Hammerskjoeld died in a plane crash and Congo fell into a decades-long dictatorship of Joseph Mobutu.
By 1975, America acknowledged its regrettable conduct on the world stage during the 1960s. The Church committee in that year, chaired by the senator of Idaho, Frank Church, investigated many illegal overreaches by the US government. It covered FBI’s surveillance of left-wing groups, CIA’s mail-interception program, mind-control experiments, and alleged assassination plots against foreign leaders. Despite the committee's exoneration of the CIA on the ultimate death of Lumumba, author Reid highlights the US's accountability in it. The CIA played a role in every event leading up to Lumumba’s downfall and death. Five weeks after Lumumba became PM, the CIA urged Kasavubu to remove him from power and funded protests and propaganda, which made it easier for Kasavubu to do it. It encouraged Mobutu to assume power the same month by financing him. The CIA also recommended to Mobutu to organize for Lumumba’s ‘permanent disposal’ and prevented any compromise to let Lumumba return to power. When Lumumba escaped from his house arrest, the CIA helped Mobutu capture him and did nothing to stop their inhuman treatment of Lumumba. Last, when Lumumba was facing death, the CIA offered no dissent to its Congolese power brokers in going ahead. It kept Washington uninformed to prevent them from saving Lumumba.
The Congo had natural resources, but its most valuable resources were also present in greater quantities in North America. In 1960, it held no economic or political importance, was geographically isolated from the US and the USSR, and seen as a backwater. It represented no strategic threat to the US, housed no significant US commercial interests and few US citizens lived there. Nor was it contiguous to US territory. What made Congo so significant for US involvement at this level? Author Reid suggests the following reasons. One reason is the arrogance of power in the 1950s and 60s. America’s might gave it the right to remake foreign societies and governments in its own image. A second reason is the ‘domino theory’, which held that if one country fell to the communists, its neighbours would follow one by one. Though this theory lacked evidence in reality, it became an article of faith among US policy wonks. Once the US decided Congo was important, they assumed that the Soviets also considered it vital. Soviet archives after 1991 show that Moscow considered the Congo only of peripheral concern and Lumumba a doubtful ally. The obsession with communism made the US misjudge Lumumba. As leader of a poor third-world nation, he was just playing both sides of the cold war for his survival. Thomas Kanza, Congo’s ambassador to the UN, clarified it when he said, “The Americans believed Lumumba was a communist because the Belgians said so. They had little idea who Lumumba was”.
This is one of the best books I have read in recent times. With his pulsating narrative, Stuart Reid brings a real-life African national tragedy to life, sixty years after the event. It is gripping and narrated in the thrilling style of a Ben Macintyre work. Lumumba was a complex personality and Reid brings him to life in all his avatars, but we end up feeling for his death, despite his flaws. A deeper reflection on this book urges us to apply its lessons to many similar events in the contemporary world.
September 9, 2025
The thing that made others praise this book--it reads like a page-turner, a thriller--is the same reason I felt quite removed, and at times, suspicious of the narrative, and of the way the Congolese people had no role to play. The dangers of showing how Western imperialism operates is that sometimes it's like a trap; you end up only showing their (evil) side of the story as if that's the only story.
July 2, 2024
Very informative look at Patrice Lumumba and his struggle to make Congo an independent state. Well written and easy to read.
May 10, 2024
This is definitely a good introduction to the topic, especially if you come in with very little understanding of African colonial history. It was very interesting to learn about the tumultuous and short-lived leadership of Lumumba, but I feel like this book was lacking in a couple of areas.
Firstly, it relied very heavily on estimations and characterizations of the politicians( Lumumba, Mobutu, Kasavubu, Tshombe) by the people who dealt with them in the crisis. Not only did this lead to an incomplete picture for many of them; it also gave the book a bit of a bias. I found it a little strange that most descriptions of Lumumba came from Hammarskjold, Bunch, and various other UN officials' impressions of him. This isn't true all of the time, but it did feel weighted towards the UN's and U.S.'s perspective. To his credit, Reid admits that Congolese accounts are much fewer than the accounts of the high-ranking officials in the novel, but it still feels a little lackluster.
Secondly, Lumumba's own political ideology and opinions seem to be shown by the author as very ambiguous, due largely to his opportunistic attitude towards aid in the Congo crisis.While he may very well have been shifty in his alignments during the crisis, it seems like a more complete picture of his actual ideologies could have been gleaned from other areas( particularly his Pan-Africanist colleagues, especially Nkrumah). At certain points in the book, even though Reid makes it clear that Lumumba's alignments aren't what they're being characterized as by the UN or the US, they were the only reference points I was getting, other than admittance of vague nationalist leanings.
Lastly, the upheavals in the Congo are given very little description and little to no comprehensive analysis of the underlying pressures and motivations.
Still, I feel like I'm being a bit nitpicky, it was a good read.
6.5/10
P.S. All my homies hate Mobutu, but all my homies also hate Dulles and Eisenhower🥰🥰
Firstly, it relied very heavily on estimations and characterizations of the politicians( Lumumba, Mobutu, Kasavubu, Tshombe) by the people who dealt with them in the crisis. Not only did this lead to an incomplete picture for many of them; it also gave the book a bit of a bias. I found it a little strange that most descriptions of Lumumba came from Hammarskjold, Bunch, and various other UN officials' impressions of him. This isn't true all of the time, but it did feel weighted towards the UN's and U.S.'s perspective. To his credit, Reid admits that Congolese accounts are much fewer than the accounts of the high-ranking officials in the novel, but it still feels a little lackluster.
Secondly, Lumumba's own political ideology and opinions seem to be shown by the author as very ambiguous, due largely to his opportunistic attitude towards aid in the Congo crisis.While he may very well have been shifty in his alignments during the crisis, it seems like a more complete picture of his actual ideologies could have been gleaned from other areas( particularly his Pan-Africanist colleagues, especially Nkrumah). At certain points in the book, even though Reid makes it clear that Lumumba's alignments aren't what they're being characterized as by the UN or the US, they were the only reference points I was getting, other than admittance of vague nationalist leanings.
Lastly, the upheavals in the Congo are given very little description and little to no comprehensive analysis of the underlying pressures and motivations.
Still, I feel like I'm being a bit nitpicky, it was a good read.
6.5/10
P.S. All my homies hate Mobutu, but all my homies also hate Dulles and Eisenhower🥰🥰
November 3, 2024
It's quite confusing how such a well researched book can completely gloss over the actual Why of the whole event - the congo is considered one of the richest countries in the world in natural resources, with literal gold mines, mineral mines and oil deposits. It doesn't take much thought to put two and two together and come to the conclusion that the United States didn't want the congo to be independently rich and working with the soviets.
What has happened to the congo was by design - their inhabitants, including children, are nearly slaves and paid far below poverty wages, while trillions worth of natural resources has been hollowed out and turned into profit for the global capitalist North.
Don't read this book. Read cobalt red instead.
What has happened to the congo was by design - their inhabitants, including children, are nearly slaves and paid far below poverty wages, while trillions worth of natural resources has been hollowed out and turned into profit for the global capitalist North.
Don't read this book. Read cobalt red instead.
May 6, 2024
This was a fascinating look at the Congo crisis, taking place in the backdrop of the Cold War, amongst the paranoia and interference from the global powers.
This was a riveting account of the inner workings of the UN's costliest and deadliest peacekeeping operation and examines the CIA, the US government, the UN, the Belgians and of course the Congolese factions themselves.
This book felt like the spiritual successor to King Leopold's Ghost (a brilliant and necessary read in its own right). Highly recommend
This was a riveting account of the inner workings of the UN's costliest and deadliest peacekeeping operation and examines the CIA, the US government, the UN, the Belgians and of course the Congolese factions themselves.
This book felt like the spiritual successor to King Leopold's Ghost (a brilliant and necessary read in its own right). Highly recommend
April 6, 2024
I think this is a necessary work for all of us to understand more about the rise of the CIA, the UN, and the transfer from colonial rule to self rule in The Republic of the Congo. It's extremely detailed, but it's very dry reading. Literally no one comes out of this history looking good. A clown car all around.
April 12, 2024
Reid’s book is a riveting exploration of one of the most controversial and mysterious chapters in Cold War history. The assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, has long been shrouded in secrecy and intrigue. Reid’s meticulous research and compelling storytelling bring to light the hidden machinations of the CIA and other Western intelligence agencies in orchestrating Lumumba’s downfall. From the outset, Reid sets the stage for the reader by providing a detailed background on Lumumba’s rise to power and his vision for a united and independent Africa. As a charismatic and dynamic leader, Lumumba posed a threat to Western interests in the region, particularly in the context of the Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. Reid delves into the complex web of political alliances and rivalries that ultimately led to Lumumba’s assassination, shedding light on the role of Western powers in destabilizing the newly independent Congo. One of the most compelling aspects of Reid’s book is his exploration of the clandestine operations of the CIA and its involvement in the assassination plot. Drawing on declassified documents and interviews with key players, Reid uncovers the extent to which the United States and its allies were willing to go to eliminate Lumumba as a threat to their interests. The book reveals the lengths to which the CIA went to undermine Lumumba’s government, from covert operations to propaganda campaigns aimed at discrediting him in the eyes of the Congolese people. Through his meticulous research and engaging prose, Reid brings to life the key players in the Lumumba plot, from CIA operatives to Congolese politicians and Belgian colonial officials. The book reads like a spy thriller, with twists and turns that keep the reader on the edge of their seat. Reid’s ability to weave together multiple narratives and perspectives creates a rich and nuanced portrait of the events leading up to Lumumba’s assassination. Reid’s compelling narrative and thorough research make this book a valuable contribution to our understanding of a pivotal moment in 20th-century history. Whether you are a history buff or simply looking for a gripping read, “The Lumumba Plot” is sure to captivate and intrigue.
November 9, 2023
I’m not a huge history buff. I suppose I’ve always had a passing interest in how leaders of a nation come to and lose power, but even with that, the information I consume is largely relegated to the film lanes (Barbet Schroders Idi Amin documentary always looms large). And my introduction to the figures of Lumumba and Mobutu are frankly as fresh as Barbara Kingsolver‘s poisonwood Bible.
With all of those admissions out of the way, I will say this is a startlingly informative piece of research. I am, not surprisingly, if you read the first paragraph, not a regular reader of foreign affairs, but I would not have expected a book from the executive editor of that periodical to have such an engaging flow. Reid packs an insane amount of detail into every page. It can be both soulcrushingly dense and hairraisingly thrilling… Massive world-stage dilemmas are exhaustively rendered with gem-like intricacy; leaders like Eisenhower and Kennedy alternately furrow brows and widen eyes as geopolitical hopes crest and dash. Cameo appearances from the likes of John Steinbeck, Maya Angelou and Che Guavara waltz in and out like no big deal. And if your brain is big enough to hold it all, you walk away with an understanding of not only who is in every relevant room, at every relevant hour of every relevant day, you also know that they were jogging their leg next to a briefcase containing a roadmap of southern New England. Maoist guerillas think they can fly. Vertebrae audibly cracks at executions. The authenticity of an African hat is efficiently dispatched as the Parisian background of its couturier is revealed. The word “bingo!” is scribbled on a yellow legal pad. Really, the level of detail is just…. Whoomph. And that’s the primary text alone. In addition, there are 139 pages of notes and attributions.
I think I have suggested often enough here that this can be a tiring, demanding read, but again, I overall, it’s a wildly, impressive effort that manages clever writerly tricks along the way to lighten the load as much as possible, and keep everything generally aloft. The menace and sorrow, lurking and loitering in every corner of this very large story, is not lost on Reid, and he should be applauded for maintaining a tone that simultaneously acknowledges the lecarre/greene thrill of it all alongside the bitter taste of yet another story in which the United States yet again, cannot keep its freaking hands out of everything. Reid tempers a frustration with the US with a clear headed guess at what the alternative would’ve been: “ but absent U.S. meddling, it could well have followed the trajectory of many postcolonial states in the region: poor and politically chaotic, but at least functional and free of mass violence.”
I liked this a lot. The epilogue alone, entitled the arrogance of power, may by itself be worth the price of admission here. My next book if not my next five books, need to be far lighter than this, but I liked it a lot.
With all of those admissions out of the way, I will say this is a startlingly informative piece of research. I am, not surprisingly, if you read the first paragraph, not a regular reader of foreign affairs, but I would not have expected a book from the executive editor of that periodical to have such an engaging flow. Reid packs an insane amount of detail into every page. It can be both soulcrushingly dense and hairraisingly thrilling… Massive world-stage dilemmas are exhaustively rendered with gem-like intricacy; leaders like Eisenhower and Kennedy alternately furrow brows and widen eyes as geopolitical hopes crest and dash. Cameo appearances from the likes of John Steinbeck, Maya Angelou and Che Guavara waltz in and out like no big deal. And if your brain is big enough to hold it all, you walk away with an understanding of not only who is in every relevant room, at every relevant hour of every relevant day, you also know that they were jogging their leg next to a briefcase containing a roadmap of southern New England. Maoist guerillas think they can fly. Vertebrae audibly cracks at executions. The authenticity of an African hat is efficiently dispatched as the Parisian background of its couturier is revealed. The word “bingo!” is scribbled on a yellow legal pad. Really, the level of detail is just…. Whoomph. And that’s the primary text alone. In addition, there are 139 pages of notes and attributions.
I think I have suggested often enough here that this can be a tiring, demanding read, but again, I overall, it’s a wildly, impressive effort that manages clever writerly tricks along the way to lighten the load as much as possible, and keep everything generally aloft. The menace and sorrow, lurking and loitering in every corner of this very large story, is not lost on Reid, and he should be applauded for maintaining a tone that simultaneously acknowledges the lecarre/greene thrill of it all alongside the bitter taste of yet another story in which the United States yet again, cannot keep its freaking hands out of everything. Reid tempers a frustration with the US with a clear headed guess at what the alternative would’ve been: “ but absent U.S. meddling, it could well have followed the trajectory of many postcolonial states in the region: poor and politically chaotic, but at least functional and free of mass violence.”
I liked this a lot. The epilogue alone, entitled the arrogance of power, may by itself be worth the price of admission here. My next book if not my next five books, need to be far lighter than this, but I liked it a lot.
October 17, 2025
Really good. One thing that’s effective here is the author does not attempt to engage in hagiography of Lumumba- he was a gifted politician and leader with a strong nationalist politics (also, not quite as progressive as I thought coming in), but of course he was at times rash and impulsive. This means that the conclusion to this story hits even harder. I will say, I dropped down to 4 stars because I would have appreciated even more of a dive into Lumumba and his popularity, although understood the focus was on CIA meddling.
Of course, the villains of the story are the United States, the CIA, Belgium, and the UN. It’s interesting to read a story about a paternalistic, paranoid, and meddling group who conceived of themselves as the smartest guys in the room. Ultimately, that group’s work to disrupt Lumumba’s government and ultimately bring him down was both immoral and incredibly foolish and led to disaster for the country.
Of course, the villains of the story are the United States, the CIA, Belgium, and the UN. It’s interesting to read a story about a paternalistic, paranoid, and meddling group who conceived of themselves as the smartest guys in the room. Ultimately, that group’s work to disrupt Lumumba’s government and ultimately bring him down was both immoral and incredibly foolish and led to disaster for the country.
June 17, 2026
A thorough look at Lumumba's rise to power and his assassination. What I appreciated the most about this book was that it felt quite balanced and unbiased, telling the story from all lenses. This really helped showcase the mess and nefarious reality of the CIA. I highly recommend reading this alongside "The Jakarta Method" by Vincent Blevins.
June 18, 2026
An excellent companion to “King Leopold’s Ghost” and “Cobalt Red.”
May 20, 2024
so much i did not know about the CIA and the UN, not to mention the Congo! very interesting book, very engaging. wanna reread heart of darkness and poisonwood bible now.
June 27, 2026
Great book but infuriating to read only because of how shitty history is some times. Normally history books reinforce how complex and multifaceted the world is, but not this one for the most part. It was just racism, plain and simple.
The one aspect I have been thinking more on this one is the very flat perspective of US officials in the early 60s when it came to communism. Lumumba was openly anti soviet and very pro West, but wanted to have more of a neutral posture, like India. And while the UN refused to make concrete moves to get Belgium the F out of the Congo, and Eisenhower wouldn’t give Lumumba the time of day (because of racism), taking meetings with soviet ambassadors and entertaining the possibility of aid from USSR, as PM, was a bridge too far? I can see this kind of flattening happening in real time now, and the political threats are just as real now as they were in 1960. The horseshoe theory is real, and blindly calling oneself “anticommunist” “anti capitalist” “anti fascist” are almost becoming meaningless. The nuance is disappearing & people seem less inclined to hold multiple truths. This flattening makes real shitty policy, so i hope we come out of this.
The one aspect I have been thinking more on this one is the very flat perspective of US officials in the early 60s when it came to communism. Lumumba was openly anti soviet and very pro West, but wanted to have more of a neutral posture, like India. And while the UN refused to make concrete moves to get Belgium the F out of the Congo, and Eisenhower wouldn’t give Lumumba the time of day (because of racism), taking meetings with soviet ambassadors and entertaining the possibility of aid from USSR, as PM, was a bridge too far? I can see this kind of flattening happening in real time now, and the political threats are just as real now as they were in 1960. The horseshoe theory is real, and blindly calling oneself “anticommunist” “anti capitalist” “anti fascist” are almost becoming meaningless. The nuance is disappearing & people seem less inclined to hold multiple truths. This flattening makes real shitty policy, so i hope we come out of this.
December 11, 2023
It’s a saga, but I learned so much about a country that I know woefully little about. Really would recommend reading this with Cobalt Red — interesting to see some of the same throughlines!
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