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In the Forest of No Joy: The Congo-Océan Railroad and the Tragedy of French Colonialism
The Congo-Océan railroad stretches across the Republic of Congo from Brazzaville to the Atlantic port of Pointe-Noir. It was completed in 1934, when Equatorial Africa was a French colony, and it stands as one of the deadliest construction projects in history. Colonial workers were subjects of an ostensibly democratic nation whose motto read “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” but liberal ideals were savaged by a cruelly indifferent administrative state.
African workers were forcibly conscripted and separated from their families, and subjected to hellish conditions as they hacked their way through dense tropical foliage—a “forest of no joy”; excavated by hand thousands of tons of earth in order to lay down track; blasted their way through rock to construct tunnels; or risked their lives building bridges over otherwise impassable rivers. In the process, they suffered disease, malnutrition, and rampant physical abuse, likely resulting in at least 20,000 deaths.
In the Forest of No Joy captures in vivid detail the experiences of the men, women, and children who toiled on the railroad, and forces a reassessment of the moral relationship between modern industrialized empires and what could be called global humanitarian impulses—the desire to improve the lives of people outside of Europe. Drawing on exhaustive research in French and Congolese archives, a chilling documentary record, and heartbreaking photographic evidence, J.P. Daughton tells the epic story of the Congo-Océan railroad, and in doing so reveals the human costs and contradictions of modern empire.
African workers were forcibly conscripted and separated from their families, and subjected to hellish conditions as they hacked their way through dense tropical foliage—a “forest of no joy”; excavated by hand thousands of tons of earth in order to lay down track; blasted their way through rock to construct tunnels; or risked their lives building bridges over otherwise impassable rivers. In the process, they suffered disease, malnutrition, and rampant physical abuse, likely resulting in at least 20,000 deaths.
In the Forest of No Joy captures in vivid detail the experiences of the men, women, and children who toiled on the railroad, and forces a reassessment of the moral relationship between modern industrialized empires and what could be called global humanitarian impulses—the desire to improve the lives of people outside of Europe. Drawing on exhaustive research in French and Congolese archives, a chilling documentary record, and heartbreaking photographic evidence, J.P. Daughton tells the epic story of the Congo-Océan railroad, and in doing so reveals the human costs and contradictions of modern empire.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published July 20, 2021
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April 9, 2022
This was a selection of my history book club. Less than halfway through, I began referring to this book as "the read of no joy." However, I gave the book three stars.
The first eight chapters (of 12 chapters) of "In The Forest Of No Joy" are a relentlessly grim procession of examples of racist cruelty, murder, and deprivation. Daughton relates tale after tale of human violence, murder, and duplicity against native Africans by the French colonial administrators, agents of concession companies, the engineering company building the Congo-Ocean railway, the native Africans working with the French, and functionaries recruited from other countries. The chapters are too repetitious. The book is like a treatise on an ugly building, each chapter devoted to a single side of the edifice, the roof, the windows, the landscaping.
Daughton seeks throughout the book to relate an African point of view of French colonialism with the railway project as the narrative's anchor point. He deserves credit for his effort, but the first eight chapters are hard to read. He reminds us that racism against black people is global and tied to capitalism.
We mustn't shoot the messenger. This is an important book even if it is a difficult read. "In The Forest Of No Joy" reminded me of how I felt when reading "At The Hands Of Persons Unknown," a history of lynching in America. I almost bailed out of that book because the material was so gruesome. I'm glad I hung in and finished the book. But I rarely recommend it. I'll also rarely recommend Daughton's book. Most people won't read this sort of material.
Daughton draws on the massive records of the French administration, including its internal investigations, and independent reports by the likes of Andre Gide. His sources in the engineering firm that built the railroad at the center of this book are light, which is unfortunate.
The tragedy of French Equatorial Africa occurred at the same time that black American performers like Josephine Baker were being celebrated in Paris and lived in relative freedom. In Baker's case, the race-money equation was favorable to her. In French Equatorial Africa, the race-money equation was against the native people. Work or starve, work or die.
I'm not a fan of Daughton's writing style. I like words I have to look up only when they add precision to the narrative. Unusual synonyms are just annoying. In this book, I came across the word "quotidian" early on. Then encountered it again. And again. Daughton loves this synonym for "daily." I kept asking, "Why not just write "daily" or "everyday"?
The last four chapters saved the book for me. Daughton starts this section with a takedown of Rafael Antonetti, the governor-general of French Equatorial Africa during the railroad project. Antonetti is a big fat target. Self-deluded, mediocre, willfully dishonest, Orwellian -- his flaws and their deadly consequences are all there. Daughton used Antonetti to anchor an insightful discussion of how the French administered their colonies during the interwar years. The story is about how bureaucracies work for their own survival but with some distinctly French attributes. Railroad workers being starved to death? Write a policy instructing authorities to feed them more food. Problem solved.
In the last chapters, Daughton also tells us the story of the engineering project that was the railroad. Very interesting story; I wish he'd spent more words on it. The railroad is still used, although much of the original engineering didn't hold up very well.
Members of my book group were not enthusiastic about "In The Forest Of No Joy", but the book stimulated a lively discussion.
The first eight chapters (of 12 chapters) of "In The Forest Of No Joy" are a relentlessly grim procession of examples of racist cruelty, murder, and deprivation. Daughton relates tale after tale of human violence, murder, and duplicity against native Africans by the French colonial administrators, agents of concession companies, the engineering company building the Congo-Ocean railway, the native Africans working with the French, and functionaries recruited from other countries. The chapters are too repetitious. The book is like a treatise on an ugly building, each chapter devoted to a single side of the edifice, the roof, the windows, the landscaping.
Daughton seeks throughout the book to relate an African point of view of French colonialism with the railway project as the narrative's anchor point. He deserves credit for his effort, but the first eight chapters are hard to read. He reminds us that racism against black people is global and tied to capitalism.
We mustn't shoot the messenger. This is an important book even if it is a difficult read. "In The Forest Of No Joy" reminded me of how I felt when reading "At The Hands Of Persons Unknown," a history of lynching in America. I almost bailed out of that book because the material was so gruesome. I'm glad I hung in and finished the book. But I rarely recommend it. I'll also rarely recommend Daughton's book. Most people won't read this sort of material.
Daughton draws on the massive records of the French administration, including its internal investigations, and independent reports by the likes of Andre Gide. His sources in the engineering firm that built the railroad at the center of this book are light, which is unfortunate.
The tragedy of French Equatorial Africa occurred at the same time that black American performers like Josephine Baker were being celebrated in Paris and lived in relative freedom. In Baker's case, the race-money equation was favorable to her. In French Equatorial Africa, the race-money equation was against the native people. Work or starve, work or die.
I'm not a fan of Daughton's writing style. I like words I have to look up only when they add precision to the narrative. Unusual synonyms are just annoying. In this book, I came across the word "quotidian" early on. Then encountered it again. And again. Daughton loves this synonym for "daily." I kept asking, "Why not just write "daily" or "everyday"?
The last four chapters saved the book for me. Daughton starts this section with a takedown of Rafael Antonetti, the governor-general of French Equatorial Africa during the railroad project. Antonetti is a big fat target. Self-deluded, mediocre, willfully dishonest, Orwellian -- his flaws and their deadly consequences are all there. Daughton used Antonetti to anchor an insightful discussion of how the French administered their colonies during the interwar years. The story is about how bureaucracies work for their own survival but with some distinctly French attributes. Railroad workers being starved to death? Write a policy instructing authorities to feed them more food. Problem solved.
In the last chapters, Daughton also tells us the story of the engineering project that was the railroad. Very interesting story; I wish he'd spent more words on it. The railroad is still used, although much of the original engineering didn't hold up very well.
Members of my book group were not enthusiastic about "In The Forest Of No Joy", but the book stimulated a lively discussion.
May 28, 2023
Simply said, this is an effort to give an accounting of the worst sustained atrocity that you've never heard of, as the administration of French Equatorial Africa punched a railroad from the Atlantic Ocean to Brazzaville on the Congo River, a project started in a spasm of misplaced enthusiasm, and sustained by an almost total disregard for human life. The death count as a direct impact of the railroad was likely north of 20,000 souls lost. One suspects that the only reason conditions improved is that it became realized that there was an actual chance of running out of the workers needed to make this project happen.
As to how this could happen, there are never any great answers, but Daughton includes as factors the pervasive racism of the French administrative and construction staff, a long-term tradition of brute force to get things done in the colony, and how the inmates had basically taken over the asylum; there being no strong direction from the French central government that might have asked the hard questions. That the French governor of the colony, Raphael Antonetti, was a genius of misdirection, denial, and euphemism, in his efforts to see that the project continued forward one lethal mile after the other, might have been the special ingredient.
If I have questions, it's what did the higher French political leadership really think of this. Over the 1920s there was some falling out with the Belgian government, so perhaps there was the strategic element of not becoming dependent on the Belgian infrastructure. I also wonder about straight-up corruption as, for over a decade, this was a steady meal ticket for the company building the railroad, the Societe de Construction des Batignolles. Perhaps it's as simple that the average French voter didn't care, so long as relatively little of their taxes went to this boondoggle, as there was certainly no lack of press coverage of this ongoing outrage.
A tough read, but relevant if one wants to have a comparative sense of 20th-century officialdom at its worst.
As to how this could happen, there are never any great answers, but Daughton includes as factors the pervasive racism of the French administrative and construction staff, a long-term tradition of brute force to get things done in the colony, and how the inmates had basically taken over the asylum; there being no strong direction from the French central government that might have asked the hard questions. That the French governor of the colony, Raphael Antonetti, was a genius of misdirection, denial, and euphemism, in his efforts to see that the project continued forward one lethal mile after the other, might have been the special ingredient.
If I have questions, it's what did the higher French political leadership really think of this. Over the 1920s there was some falling out with the Belgian government, so perhaps there was the strategic element of not becoming dependent on the Belgian infrastructure. I also wonder about straight-up corruption as, for over a decade, this was a steady meal ticket for the company building the railroad, the Societe de Construction des Batignolles. Perhaps it's as simple that the average French voter didn't care, so long as relatively little of their taxes went to this boondoggle, as there was certainly no lack of press coverage of this ongoing outrage.
A tough read, but relevant if one wants to have a comparative sense of 20th-century officialdom at its worst.
August 29, 2023
This book tells the grim story behind the construction of the Congo-Ocean railroad in French Equatorial Africa in the 1920s. It reminds me of the horrors perpetrated in the Belgian Congo to the south. Human life was cheap and wasted in pursuit of lucre. The author discussed the de-humanizing nature of the project that allowed those in control to think so little of their workers who were virtual slave laborers. That aspect also reminded me of the dehumanizing manner in which the Japanese treated POWs throughout Asia during WWII. If it is believed that a people to be less than human, the perpetrators can convince themselves that any abusive behavior is acceptable.
This is a good solid book that explains a facet of African colonialism in stark terms. If you are interested in colonial Africa or even background on why Africa is what it is today, this is a good book to read.
This is a good solid book that explains a facet of African colonialism in stark terms. If you are interested in colonial Africa or even background on why Africa is what it is today, this is a good book to read.
February 26, 2023
How many pages do you think it takes to repeatedly tell of the horrendous treatment of the Equatorial Africans used to build the French’s Congo-Ocean railroad? Well it took J. P. Daughton 306. This was a book that I forced myself to finish. Hence the reason it took me so long. I will say Daughton did some excellent research in writing this piece. To gather the facts he put together was no easy task.
My problem with the book was it just repeated over and over, ad nauseam the mistreatment of the forced labor the French used. Throughout the repetition was the administration cover-up, denials and outright lies about the morbidity and morality rate of the construction workers. The heinous treatment of these Congolese should never have happened and the race superiority of the white French administrators was beyond appalling. Yet, that was the extent of the book. Countless recounts of the horrible treatment of the workers. I just felt like it had no purpose after page 100.
My problem with the book was it just repeated over and over, ad nauseam the mistreatment of the forced labor the French used. Throughout the repetition was the administration cover-up, denials and outright lies about the morbidity and morality rate of the construction workers. The heinous treatment of these Congolese should never have happened and the race superiority of the white French administrators was beyond appalling. Yet, that was the extent of the book. Countless recounts of the horrible treatment of the workers. I just felt like it had no purpose after page 100.
January 25, 2025
Title just about sums up how lighthearted this one was
February 15, 2023
This book is not for the faint of heart. The extreme, grotesque, unimaginable violence it describes is almost too disgusting to put into words. Author J.P. Daughton’s “In the Forest of No Joy” tells the story of French Colonialism in Equatorial Africa, centering around the construction of the Congo-Ocean railroad. Daughton details virtually every stage of the process of developing and constructing the Congo-Ocean railroad—from “recruitment” (which closely resembled the forced migration tactics used to procure African captives for the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade), to the details of colonial administration, to the actual work. In doing so, he offers a picture of a truly hellish landscape. Daughton also discusses the colonial-ideological underpinnings for the railroad, focusing in on notions of racial superiority, paternalism, and the existence of extreme greed underneath the mask of “civilization.”
As this book makes clear, work on the Congo-Ocean railroad was truly “a thousands ways to die” for the African laborers. Africans were tortured and killed by the thousands, all in service of French colonialism in the Congo. Daughton excels at telling this story not just from the familiar perspective of rabid anti-Blackness on the part of white overseers, but from the perspective of the necessities, incompetencies, and inevitable failings of colonialism. The book demonstrates the centrality of gratuitous violence in the everyday facilitation of French colonialism in Africa. It also exposes the inner workings of a colonial system that used career government bureaucrats and African intermediaries to terrorize African populations, all the while employing methods of obfuscation and deception to mask the reality on the ground.
There were many fascinating nuggets of information that Daughton highlighted. For example, he detailed how the economics of capitalism and colonialism actually stifled innovation, as it would have been more expensive to implement machinery to construct aspects of the railroad as opposed to African labor. The refusal to adopt machinery where appropriate contributed to the persistent abuse and demise of the African workforce, as did the combination of anti-Blackness and colonial neglect. This is a highly informative book that provides a glimpse into France's dark colonial history.
As this book makes clear, work on the Congo-Ocean railroad was truly “a thousands ways to die” for the African laborers. Africans were tortured and killed by the thousands, all in service of French colonialism in the Congo. Daughton excels at telling this story not just from the familiar perspective of rabid anti-Blackness on the part of white overseers, but from the perspective of the necessities, incompetencies, and inevitable failings of colonialism. The book demonstrates the centrality of gratuitous violence in the everyday facilitation of French colonialism in Africa. It also exposes the inner workings of a colonial system that used career government bureaucrats and African intermediaries to terrorize African populations, all the while employing methods of obfuscation and deception to mask the reality on the ground.
There were many fascinating nuggets of information that Daughton highlighted. For example, he detailed how the economics of capitalism and colonialism actually stifled innovation, as it would have been more expensive to implement machinery to construct aspects of the railroad as opposed to African labor. The refusal to adopt machinery where appropriate contributed to the persistent abuse and demise of the African workforce, as did the combination of anti-Blackness and colonial neglect. This is a highly informative book that provides a glimpse into France's dark colonial history.
September 6, 2022
Daughton has written a detailed history of a dark period in Franch colonial history. For fans of King Leopold's Ghost, this is a simiarly sad tale that took place on the other bank of the Congo River.
His estimate is that more than 20,000 people died as a result of this project. A tragedy of this scale should be more well known. Daughton's book gives us in the 21st century a clear picture of where, how and why so many died building a rail line that ran only about 350 miles.
He paints a detailed picture of Franch colonial administration in central Africa. He obviously mined these colonial records for much of his source material. There he lays blame for many of the deaths given the callous mindset French colonial officials had about the value of African, and non-European life. These were the tens of thousands of manual laborers who built the railway mostly without use of modern tools and technology.
None of that is surprising. The French didn't have a monopoly on that behavior in colonial Africa. Thanks to Adam Hochschild, we know what happened on the other side of the Congo River a few years prior in the Belgian Congo. What does surprise is the degree to which these same officials were able to escape blame or punishment for their malfeasance, despite multiple public and private reports showing that poor treatment of the workers was the main cause of thousands of unnecessary deaths.
Many in France and elsewhere knew what was happening but did little to stop the brutality and inhumanity of the conscription and construction processes. He highlights the failure of the International Labor Organization, a new creation of the League of Nations, among others, to identify and exclaim that most of these workers were "forced labor", i.e., slaves. Daughton argues that the ILO knew of this servitude but decided not to protest it loudly for fear of offending Britain and France, two of the most powerful members of the League.
I would have liked more information about the physical details of the construction and operation of the rail line after completion. Daughton includes this information in one brief chapter; however, it left me wanting to know more.
This story is more about the French colonial bureaucracy and it's ineptness organizing, planning and operationalizing the project, especially in relation to the human capital required to build it in an undeveloped country with limited infrastructure and very little mechanical equipment.
It's a sad tale that the French have spent nearly a centruy trying to recast this story as an engineering accomplishment without addressing the massive loss of life required to build it. Daughton makes a strong case that many of these lives were lost unnecessarily. The French didn't provide sufficient logistical support for the manual laborers on the line until very late in the construction process.
By then, it was too little too late. Preventable disease, lack of sufficient food and shelter and physical abuse by the French construction company and its sub-contractors resulted in thousands of unnecessary deaths. Kudos to Daughton for bringing this tragedy to light again.
His estimate is that more than 20,000 people died as a result of this project. A tragedy of this scale should be more well known. Daughton's book gives us in the 21st century a clear picture of where, how and why so many died building a rail line that ran only about 350 miles.
He paints a detailed picture of Franch colonial administration in central Africa. He obviously mined these colonial records for much of his source material. There he lays blame for many of the deaths given the callous mindset French colonial officials had about the value of African, and non-European life. These were the tens of thousands of manual laborers who built the railway mostly without use of modern tools and technology.
None of that is surprising. The French didn't have a monopoly on that behavior in colonial Africa. Thanks to Adam Hochschild, we know what happened on the other side of the Congo River a few years prior in the Belgian Congo. What does surprise is the degree to which these same officials were able to escape blame or punishment for their malfeasance, despite multiple public and private reports showing that poor treatment of the workers was the main cause of thousands of unnecessary deaths.
Many in France and elsewhere knew what was happening but did little to stop the brutality and inhumanity of the conscription and construction processes. He highlights the failure of the International Labor Organization, a new creation of the League of Nations, among others, to identify and exclaim that most of these workers were "forced labor", i.e., slaves. Daughton argues that the ILO knew of this servitude but decided not to protest it loudly for fear of offending Britain and France, two of the most powerful members of the League.
I would have liked more information about the physical details of the construction and operation of the rail line after completion. Daughton includes this information in one brief chapter; however, it left me wanting to know more.
This story is more about the French colonial bureaucracy and it's ineptness organizing, planning and operationalizing the project, especially in relation to the human capital required to build it in an undeveloped country with limited infrastructure and very little mechanical equipment.
It's a sad tale that the French have spent nearly a centruy trying to recast this story as an engineering accomplishment without addressing the massive loss of life required to build it. Daughton makes a strong case that many of these lives were lost unnecessarily. The French didn't provide sufficient logistical support for the manual laborers on the line until very late in the construction process.
By then, it was too little too late. Preventable disease, lack of sufficient food and shelter and physical abuse by the French construction company and its sub-contractors resulted in thousands of unnecessary deaths. Kudos to Daughton for bringing this tragedy to light again.
January 31, 2023
An important but grim story.
The author uses the construction of the Congo-Ocean railroad during the 1920s and 1930s as a backdrop for his relentlessly grim recounting of a story of cruelty inflicted by French colonial administration across French Equatorial Africa. It is a very grim read but it is an important story worth telling so that it does not fade from memory, or from history.
The rating is 3 Stars because the book seems unbalanced, and the author at times allows his indignation to take over in a way that changes the book from well-researched history to a personal diatribe about social injustice. The story has no heroes, no one to admire.
The construction of the Congo-Ocean Railroad was a remarkable engineering feat, but that story is lost in the thundering damnation of its means of construction. This book stands in sharp contrast to a book with a not dissimilar story line that I read decades ago. “The Lunatic Express” tells the story of the construction of the Mombasa to Lake Victoria railroad across colonial British East Africa. While that book also recounts the human toil of the railroad’s construction, it also highlights the remarkable engineering required to build it. While “In the Forest of No Joy” has nothing at all good to say about the engineering feat or about the terrain through which the Congo-Ocean was built, “The Lunatic Express” brings to life the beauty of East Africa, and made famous the man-eating Lions of Tsavo and the hunters who tracked them down. It is a better balanced story.
So reader, beware. “In the Forest of No Joy” is not the story of the construction of a railroad across a daunting landscape, for that is just the backdrop. It is a non-stop, relentless and grim critique of French colonial administration across the vastness of French Equatorial Africa a century ago. An important story to tell. A story without anyone to admire.
The author uses the construction of the Congo-Ocean railroad during the 1920s and 1930s as a backdrop for his relentlessly grim recounting of a story of cruelty inflicted by French colonial administration across French Equatorial Africa. It is a very grim read but it is an important story worth telling so that it does not fade from memory, or from history.
The rating is 3 Stars because the book seems unbalanced, and the author at times allows his indignation to take over in a way that changes the book from well-researched history to a personal diatribe about social injustice. The story has no heroes, no one to admire.
The construction of the Congo-Ocean Railroad was a remarkable engineering feat, but that story is lost in the thundering damnation of its means of construction. This book stands in sharp contrast to a book with a not dissimilar story line that I read decades ago. “The Lunatic Express” tells the story of the construction of the Mombasa to Lake Victoria railroad across colonial British East Africa. While that book also recounts the human toil of the railroad’s construction, it also highlights the remarkable engineering required to build it. While “In the Forest of No Joy” has nothing at all good to say about the engineering feat or about the terrain through which the Congo-Ocean was built, “The Lunatic Express” brings to life the beauty of East Africa, and made famous the man-eating Lions of Tsavo and the hunters who tracked them down. It is a better balanced story.
So reader, beware. “In the Forest of No Joy” is not the story of the construction of a railroad across a daunting landscape, for that is just the backdrop. It is a non-stop, relentless and grim critique of French colonial administration across the vastness of French Equatorial Africa a century ago. An important story to tell. A story without anyone to admire.
October 11, 2022
The calm and analytical telling of frightful colonialism at its worst has made the savage truth/thriller even more mind blowing.
The telling of how forced labor was as bad as any slavery through bait and switch tactics : hundreds of thousands of Congolese needlessly died serving their French masters - we know that beyond the French, the British, Belgians and Germans were similarly cruel between the World Wars (the US in the Panama Canal were not appreciably better). This devastating picture of the machine that the French adopted and championed is worth reading. When Fauci, Gates and pharma and musk and bezos speak of the good they do, the words in chapters 10, 11 and 12 enable us to see how the truth can be warped to suit the masters. Who really profits from a change in regulations and methods and the spending of money on labor and natural resources? Whose lives are really saved? Why do we allow some people or groups to control or dictate acts - developing excuses and rationale? Who controls the controllers' narrative?
As per the final chapter, men / humans are brutal because they can be if unchecked and unhappy. I don't think it is racial alone as studies of random people being prison guards or prisoners have shown similar behavior, but society needs rules and rules that are upheld ( call it standards /clarification of allegiances and audit)/ governance if you prefer).
I commented using "allegiances" referring to comments attributed to Albert Memmi that choosing them often denoted actions as does who we fear. Do our current capitalist and political leaders care more about each other than the middle or lower classes? Who do they fear? I believe this allegiances and fears have been more ensconced in the last 50 years - favoring the wealthy, the politicians and their favored partners.
The telling of how forced labor was as bad as any slavery through bait and switch tactics : hundreds of thousands of Congolese needlessly died serving their French masters - we know that beyond the French, the British, Belgians and Germans were similarly cruel between the World Wars (the US in the Panama Canal were not appreciably better). This devastating picture of the machine that the French adopted and championed is worth reading. When Fauci, Gates and pharma and musk and bezos speak of the good they do, the words in chapters 10, 11 and 12 enable us to see how the truth can be warped to suit the masters. Who really profits from a change in regulations and methods and the spending of money on labor and natural resources? Whose lives are really saved? Why do we allow some people or groups to control or dictate acts - developing excuses and rationale? Who controls the controllers' narrative?
As per the final chapter, men / humans are brutal because they can be if unchecked and unhappy. I don't think it is racial alone as studies of random people being prison guards or prisoners have shown similar behavior, but society needs rules and rules that are upheld ( call it standards /clarification of allegiances and audit)/ governance if you prefer).
I commented using "allegiances" referring to comments attributed to Albert Memmi that choosing them often denoted actions as does who we fear. Do our current capitalist and political leaders care more about each other than the middle or lower classes? Who do they fear? I believe this allegiances and fears have been more ensconced in the last 50 years - favoring the wealthy, the politicians and their favored partners.
July 9, 2021
“They plunder, they butcher, they ravish, and call it by the lying name of 'empire'. They make a desolation and call it 'peace.’”
Tacitus put these words in the mouth of Calgacus of the Caledonian Confederacy, a minority leader facing a colonial enemy at the height of its power. Though nearly 2000 years separate this episode of Roman history from French Equatorial Africa, the quote could easily have come from this gripping, horrifying account of the construction of the Congo-Ocean railroad.
This account was gripping because J. P. Daughton’s scholarship and breadth of understanding were remarkable - preempting opposing arguments, unearthing the humanity of each actor, and conveying authority to the reader through thoroughness and thoughtfulness.
This account was horrifying because J. P. Daughton has resurrected the voices and experiences of the laborers who constructed the railroad, largely against their will. They were the victims of bureaucracy, mismanagement, and ineptitude, and their daily lives were marked by dehumanizing negligence.
It is shocking to think that these atrocities are so near. It’s convenient to distance oneself from troubling episodes by relegating them to “the past.” This book is a reminder that our world allowed horrendous violence to be perpetrated against whole people groups with impunity - less than 100 years ago! It causes me to think about entire nations differently, and to view modern nations with greater skepticism.
“There is something comforting believing that hateful madmen made empires violent. In fact, negligence, denial, and assertions of humanity in pursuit of ‘progress’ often proved far more cruel.”
Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for the advance copy of this compelling expose!
Tacitus put these words in the mouth of Calgacus of the Caledonian Confederacy, a minority leader facing a colonial enemy at the height of its power. Though nearly 2000 years separate this episode of Roman history from French Equatorial Africa, the quote could easily have come from this gripping, horrifying account of the construction of the Congo-Ocean railroad.
This account was gripping because J. P. Daughton’s scholarship and breadth of understanding were remarkable - preempting opposing arguments, unearthing the humanity of each actor, and conveying authority to the reader through thoroughness and thoughtfulness.
This account was horrifying because J. P. Daughton has resurrected the voices and experiences of the laborers who constructed the railroad, largely against their will. They were the victims of bureaucracy, mismanagement, and ineptitude, and their daily lives were marked by dehumanizing negligence.
It is shocking to think that these atrocities are so near. It’s convenient to distance oneself from troubling episodes by relegating them to “the past.” This book is a reminder that our world allowed horrendous violence to be perpetrated against whole people groups with impunity - less than 100 years ago! It causes me to think about entire nations differently, and to view modern nations with greater skepticism.
“There is something comforting believing that hateful madmen made empires violent. In fact, negligence, denial, and assertions of humanity in pursuit of ‘progress’ often proved far more cruel.”
Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for the advance copy of this compelling expose!
November 26, 2022
Good historical work and deeply distressing messages from history. Daughton returns in each and every chapter to the inexhaustible trove of suffering that was the French colonial administration, which in this light looks more like a predatory crude industrial machine made to turn human bodies into fuel for a nightmare, the after-image of which is a poorly conceived railroad. I won't mince words: this is a confrontational and bloody history.
To his credit, Daughton separates as best he is able the idea of the cost of construction from the brutal violence of French tactics. Following academic trends, he certainly focuses on the act of recovering memory for the ostensible purposes of justice, which means that he returns to the human cost and the human faces that people this story. It does leave rather blank the technical, political, and mechanical details, though - the story of the railroad, in other words - which looms as scaffolding. I think this is a good decision as it forestalls the implicit equivocacy between the human cost and the physical result, which is not an appropriate comparison, but it does raise questions for the reader.
Turning to style, despite his subject material Daughton is readable and accessible. He frequently refers to images that are placed throughout his text, which I found useful aids to the imagination, and he is a visual writer able to characterize scenes with literary flair. On the whole, though, it is unremitting. No joy, indeed. Neither joy nor justice, I am afraid.
To his credit, Daughton separates as best he is able the idea of the cost of construction from the brutal violence of French tactics. Following academic trends, he certainly focuses on the act of recovering memory for the ostensible purposes of justice, which means that he returns to the human cost and the human faces that people this story. It does leave rather blank the technical, political, and mechanical details, though - the story of the railroad, in other words - which looms as scaffolding. I think this is a good decision as it forestalls the implicit equivocacy between the human cost and the physical result, which is not an appropriate comparison, but it does raise questions for the reader.
Turning to style, despite his subject material Daughton is readable and accessible. He frequently refers to images that are placed throughout his text, which I found useful aids to the imagination, and he is a visual writer able to characterize scenes with literary flair. On the whole, though, it is unremitting. No joy, indeed. Neither joy nor justice, I am afraid.
February 27, 2022
This is a very hard review to write, but write it I must. I gave this book two stars but that comes with an asterisk of its own. The subject matter is solid history and the story must be told; or at least documented for posterity. For that I give it more than one star. This book holds a very important place with its publication and one that I hope will solidify its place alongside books about the American Slave Trade, the Holocaust, and other great historical tragedies. There are many lessons documented in In the Forest of No Joy, particularly in regards to the horrors of imperialism and colonialism. The French people should, like all of us, take no pride in their role in the destruction of the many cultures of Africa and the rape and pillage of the people and natural resources of the Congo. This book details much of this story.
That all said, this book is difficult to read -- while it is well written, the content is very disturbing. It's also highly redundant in its explicitness. There is no story here. Rather it's a historical look at the realities and results of the horrible French occupation of lands they didn't understand, and of a people they didn't like.
That all said, this book is difficult to read -- while it is well written, the content is very disturbing. It's also highly redundant in its explicitness. There is no story here. Rather it's a historical look at the realities and results of the horrible French occupation of lands they didn't understand, and of a people they didn't like.
July 26, 2021
"In the Forest of No Joy" is a valuable look at history that is not so distant from the present, yet almost entirely unknown by most living today. While the atrocities of colonialism committed by European nations and the United States are well known, most students of history imagine these to have taken place long, long ago. The construction of the Congo-Ocean railroad at the expense of tens of thousands of lives is not even a century old yet. Daughton uses his book to examine how these state-sponsored atrocities were allowed/encouraged to take place as well as why the story is nearly forgotten by Europeans and Americans today. A strong historical piece of writing supported by a wealth of primary source material, well documented by those who committed such cruel acts in the name of "progress".
August 14, 2021
This was a well-written and thoroughly researched book about a topic that is under-represented in works of history. The author tells the story of the building of the Congo-Ocean railroad, a massive construction project that was almost useless. Daughton focuses largely on the suffering of the African populations who were conscripted to build the railroad and the last chapter was a particularly good analysis of the causes of European brutality and cruelty.
Other reviewers have noted that there are some organizational issues with the book. It grasps a bit for it's central focus here and there, and there are two chapters that cover much of the same ground about the colonial governor.
Overall, though, an important book and well worth reading.
Other reviewers have noted that there are some organizational issues with the book. It grasps a bit for it's central focus here and there, and there are two chapters that cover much of the same ground about the colonial governor.
Overall, though, an important book and well worth reading.
November 21, 2021
A detailed illustration of how racism, commercial enterprise, politics and bureaucracy can cause slaughter and cultural devastation on a near-unimaginable scale. Europeans go to Africa, decide for Africans what Africans need, and end up killing tens of thousands of them believing that it’s in the Africans’ best interests. The most important takeaway: You don’t need a villain—a dictator like Stalin or Hitler—to work thousands of people to death. All you need is a bunch of administrators and paper-pushers—people who are just doing their job as best they can, and who are convinced they are involved in a noble endeavor—to get the job done. The individuals may have thought they were doing good…but the whole enterprise was evil.
April 26, 2021
Uses the expensive, grueling, and ultimately somewhat pointless construction of the Congo-Ocean railroad in the 1920s and '30s to showcase not just how wantonly cruel French colonial officials were (over 20,000 workers, almost all Africans "recruited" to work via means indistinguishable from slavery, died) but how chaotic, ad hoc, and underfunded the entire empire was. In many cases, workers died en masse because French officials were too disorganized. As Daughton points out, much of the colonial savagery visited upon Africans in the so-called Republic of Congo was due to French weakness, not Western superiority.
September 22, 2022
This history is a worthy companion to Adam Hochshild's KING LEOPOLD'S GHOST, which really brought home to me the evils of colonialism on the African continent. In it, Daughton tells of tens of thousands of French colonial subjects who died building the Congo-Ocean railway between Brazzavile and Pointe-Noir, Congo in the late 1920s and 1930s. The rail line is only 320 miles long but its jungles and mountains made it into a terrible environment in which to build. The history is well-researched and he brings out his answers to the larger questions surrounding this endeavor fully. A fascinating, but tragic, history of man's inhumanity to other men.
August 1, 2023
For anyone interested in French colonial history, or the colonial history about Equatorial Africa, this is the book for you. Daughton touches on every subject in between - the forced recruitment of workers, the ethics of the Societe des Batignolles and the history and leadership of French Equatorial Africa, and how every possible condition affected railroad workers and how France and the world dealt with and viewed issues. This book does not have a happy ending, and much of it is grim. However, the grimness highlights how bad the Congo-Ocean railroad was and how important it was for world history.
January 21, 2023
In the Forest of No Joy is one of the most disturbing books I've read in a while. Daughton tells the incredible story of the French building the Congo-Ocean railroad in the French Equitorial Africa - now the Republic of the Congo - in the 1920s and 1930s. Daughton shows how the French basically sent men to their graves to build this railroad. Between transporting people thousands of miles to work, the brutal conditions in the middle of a tropical jungle, and the violent White overseers, this project highlights the absolute brutality of European imperialism.
March 24, 2021
This is an account of the Congo-Ocean railroad, made by enslaved Blacks in French-colonized Africa at the beginning of the 20th century. Author Daughton recounts the horrors inflicted on the people forced to work on the railroad, but does so repetitively and without clear organization, resulting in a book that circles and circles important topics but never provides readers with guideposts for understanding them more fully.
May 21, 2022
Boring. Constantly repeating the same thing for 85% of the book tends to bore the reader. I assumed this book would discuss the politics, engineering, and human stories of building the railroad. However the author just repeats the fact that the French treated the Africans poorly for the vast majority of the book.
If you are looking for a book that discusses an engineering marvel and the human stories behind it, I would recommend “THE CANAL BUILDERS”
If you are looking for a book that discusses an engineering marvel and the human stories behind it, I would recommend “THE CANAL BUILDERS”
September 5, 2022
Beware of men coming to build public works projects in the name of bettering the locals. This is an important read and adds to the legacy of more widely known French colonial horrors in North Africa and Southeast Asia.
April 29, 2024
A dense historic account of the grotesque repercussions of colonial activities by France on modern day Republic of the Congo. This book particularly shows how often the brutality of colonialism can be due to uncaring administrative processes as completely as the racism of individuals.
June 29, 2024
An interesting subject, but too heavy on theory and psychologizing the administrators. Like, Antonetti wasn't ignoring the mistreatment of workers because his "vision gazed through the lenses of his bureaucracy"; he was just lying to look good.
November 20, 2021
Is France paying DRC back? Eff France.
August 21, 2022
Fascinating somewhat lost history, interesting and wide-ranging analysis of the conditions on the ground and communications about those conditions up the French chain of command.
February 16, 2023
The book is well written but the subject matter is hard. I kept saying, how can one human being treat another in this manner. Although slavery was outlawed, it persisted.
May 3, 2023
A deep dark history in the Congo.
June 9, 2023
i chose to reread this book from a course i took in the fall. the matter of the french colonial state is still astonishing, meaning “logic had no place when race was an issue.”
December 12, 2024
Obviously extremely grim subject matter, but very interesting and well-researched. I learned a lot.
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