Warwick’s review of Congo: The Epic History of a People > Likes and Comments

not a pleasant story, is it ? But the book is perfectly honest for Belgians who get about zero colonial history in school: "Stanley discovers, Leopold acts bad, government takes it over, we leave"

Well yes, colonial history is not well told in many education systems. I don't think I heard a word about what the British got up to in India when I was at school.

Anyway, thanks. Sorry this was such a long review…

no atavism, no primitive reflex, but the logical result of the scarcity of land in a wartime economy in the service of globalization – and, in that sense, a foreshadowing of what is in store for an overpopulated planet. Congo does not lag behind the course of history, but runs out in front

harsh words. How much our everyday lives depend on violence done in far off places.

Yes I thought that was quite chilling. It's a point he makes several times throughout the book, and not an argument you normally hear about conflict in Africa.

Get ready for a whole load of Belgians liking this great exposé, Warwick! Like Dimitri said, this topic gets largely ignored in our classrooms. In primary school, I remember a picture of Leopold II being shown and I just thought he kind of looked like a cranky version of Santa Clause. I even distinctly remember some pride in the teacher's voice when showing us how big our colony was. Despite that, most Belgians seem very aware of this dark page in history that leaves its marks to this day. The enormous success of this book in Belgium could point to a latent discomfort with this topic and an eagerness to "read it off". Though many people bought it but haven't read it. Me as one of them. There are voices who claim that the wicked role assumed by Belgian authorities has been played down considerably in this book and that the "Congolese perspective" requires more than a couple of interviews. Very much looking forward to read this book myself. I've given it a couple of tries already, but I never quite managed to get through it. Your review at least gave me a very good idea of what to expect!

Jan-Maat wrote: "no atavism, no primitive reflex, but the logical result of the scarcity of land in a wartime economy in the service of globalization – and, in that sense, a foreshadowing of what is in store for an overpopulated planet. Congo does not lag behind the course of history, but runs out in front

harsh words. How much our everyday lives depend on violence done in far off places. "

Warwick wrote: "Yes I thought that was quite chilling. It's a point he makes several times throughout the book, and not an argument you normally hear about conflict in Africa."

Yet it will quite probably be reported as having other causes, or indeed *have* them as the primary motivations for the participants, just as religion and bids to overthrow dictators are always talked of as the first line reasons for the chaos of Iraq or Syria. Climate change and natural resources are macro topics that get mentioned in books and long analytical pieces, but not in the headlines and political rhetoric. (Just as similar causations loom larger for historical events written about centuries later than they did whilst they were happening.)

Here is yet one Belgian in the wake of Matthias, Warwick. A very erudite and informative review which fully honours the broad scope of this extraordinary book - at my school, colonisation and decolonisation were important topics, especially those of Congo, so these parts did mostly ring a bell. I was particularly struck by the post-Mobutu period and the horror that followed: reading the personal testimonies and Van Reybrouck's analysis on it, made it even more gruesome than the daily reports on the news about it. With your eloquent and elaborate posting you are giving this important book the attention it deserves, thank you for that.

Matthias wrote: "Get ready for a whole load of Belgians liking this great exposé, Warwick! Like Dimitri said, this topic gets largely ignored in our classrooms. In primary school, I remember a picture of Leopold II..."

Yeah I saw it won a lot of awards in Belgium (and elsewhere). Let me know what you think if you do get round to it!

I reread Heart of Darkness this fall and just finished A Passage to Congo: Photographs by Doctor Émile Muller 1923 - 1938; this seems like a logical next stop. Andrew Sullivan mentioned something about the human cost of the Playstation long ago on his blog, but (to my shame) I never did any follow up at the time.

I thought your review here was the perfect length, Warwick. Thanks for this.

Antonomasia wrote: "Jan-Maat wrote: "no atavism, no primitive reflex, but the logical result of the scarcity of land in a wartime economy in the service of globalization – and, in that sense, a foreshadowing of what i..."

Yes – this is very astute – and this is why you need to read histories and book-length studies as well as news media, because they are kind of doing different jobs.

@Ilse, thank you, very much.

@Amy, hope you like. I have a couple more Congo books on the shelf too (I may be going to DRC in January so I wanted to read up) – will be interested to see your thoughts.

"This is a book to sap your reserves of hope" you wrote? Sadly your review has sapped my reserves Warwick. I have marked it to read.

It's hard to believe that there could be something worse than a Mobutu, a Hussein, a Gaddafi, an al-Assad, but there actually is!

Does the book deal at all with the pre-colonial history of the region? And does it cover the Omani/Zanzibari colonialism or only the European?


I think van Reynsbrouck is being over-sensationalist with the "the world will turn out like the Congo" thing. The contemporary and recent situation in the Congo is primarily the result of problems of institutionalisation. It's not a coincidence that this sort of violence hasn't been seen in Europe outside of the Balkans in three or four hundred years (our incidents of violence in that time - the Russian and French Revolutions, WWI and WII - were of very different types). Countries with minimal resources can still have this sort of state-failure - like Somalia. Countries with immense resources can avoid it (like Brazil, or South America in general).

In particular, when viewing the world today, I think it's worth bearing in mind how much better things are getting. Competition for resources is greater than ever, yet wars that seem terrible today would have been commonplace only a few decades ago. The war in Angola is over (half a million dead). The war in Liberia is over (quarter of a million). The war in Uganda is finally almost entirely over. The war in Mozambique is over (nearly a million dead). The war in Ethiopia is over (two million dead). These were immense struggles lasting decades, and that seemed to be unsolveable; and they're the tip of an iceberg of smaller conflicts (Sierra Leone, for instance). Even problems like Sudan (200,000 and counting killed in the genocide in Darfur) are much smaller than those of the previous generation (2 million dead in the Second Civil War). And in some cases this trend runs directly against the issue of resource conflict: oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, for instance, may be a tyrannical kleptocracy, sure, but it's nothing compared to the old dirt-poor Equatorial Guinea where the dictator massacred 20% of the entire population in only a couple of years.

I wouldn't see the Congo war as the first wave of some future dark age. I'd see it as one of the last waves of the terrible dark age that much of Africa was engulfed in in the second half of the 20th century. First there were the wars of independence; then there were the wars of consolidation; then there were the terrible years of tyranny under the consolidated rulers; then there were the wars of revolution that got rid of the dictators. In different countries, different parts of that process were more painful than others, and some managed to avoid parts of it entirely; but it seems to have been a general process. Mobutu happened to survive longer in the Congo than most of his contemporaries; and of course Congo was starting from a lower point, and its size and disunity means there's more needed to bring peace.

Of course it's too early to say that everything will be fine from now on in Africa, but I think there's a lot of reason to be optimistic. In general it's becoming more democratic, more securely institutionalised, and less genocidal.

Except the Balkans? That's a pretty big ‘except’ you're allowing yourself! Besides, the prospect of two politico-religious groups killing each other and each other's children is something that could be seen a lot closer to home, in Northern Ireland, throughout my childhood.

But no, as it happens I agree with you that in general things are improving. However, this trend is not inevitable, and overpopulation and competition for resources are key candidates for how it could be reversed. I think the point here is not exactly that Congo is the ‘first wave of some future dark age’, merely that it offers lessons in how people react when put in a situation which more of the world may soon be facing.

Sorry Wastrel, I forgot to answer your other question – yes, the book does deal extensively with the Zanzibari regime and other more local warlords and slaving systems (though the bulk of the book is from the 19th century onwards). There are many interesting things to say about it but I thought my review was too long already…

Thanks for the superb review

Thanks man. Appreciate it

Warwick wrote: "Except the Balkans? That's a pretty big ‘except’ you're allowing yourself! Besides, the prospect of two politico-religious groups killing each other and each other's children is something that coul..."

You're right that Northern Ireland is closest phenomena in western europe - and it's no coincidence that NI is also the closest analogue we have to the congo in terms of history. Ireland was effectively one of Europe's first colonies; during the 19th century it underwent an apocalyptic trauma (though largely an accidental one) from which it has still not recovered* that bred intense hatred and fear; and it went through an unpleasant decolonialisation process, with both a war of independence and rather nasty civil war (it only killed a few thousand, but was particularly brutal as it was largely ideological rather than ethnic - it was literally brother against brother (and indeed sister), and a high percentage of the killings were executions). The continuing conflicts in Northern Ireland have reflected both the injustices of the decolonialisation process (on both sides) and the logistical consequences (i.e. the creation of extremist paramilitaries on both sides, created during the independence struggle and that never really went away).

In a way, the remarkable thing is how peaceful the South has been - given that three of the four main parties are factions emerging from the civil war. I think the country was fortunate that Collins wasn't a more brutal man, and that de Valera was a democrat and content to rule constitutionally. It's certainly interesting to wonder whether he'd have been less magnanimous to his enemies had the stakes been higher (eg if Ireland had had more natural resources, or if the cold war had been going when the system was set up).

The Balkans, likewise, are largely a postcolonial issue: an area invaded and conquered by two different imperial powers, both of which collapsed chaotically in the early 20th century.

Wow, Warwick. Thank you for giving us the benefit of your intelligent reading and reflecting upon this shattering history. I could barely bring myself to finish your review, am not sure when I'll be ready to read van Reybrouck's book. Recent findings on the inheritance of trauma -- how witnessing or experiencing violence is imprinted on the DNA -- seem relevant here. Congo is a traumatized nation, and not only in a metaphorical sense. I can't see grounds for hope here.

Thanks Lisa. I think on the personal level there are grounds for hope – much of this book, which I was not able to well reflect in this review, is about the resilience and good humour of the Congolese people, and we get some details of how they are taking part in the modern, globally-connected economy in interesting ways. However politically things seem pretty awful. The problem, as van Reybrouck is often reminded by his interviewees, is that there simply are no Congolese politicians with the necessary experience. ‘You must remember that all our leaders are the sons of very poor people,’ someone tells him – the first priority is always to line their own pockets, and van Reybrouck takes considerable efforts to demonstrate that this attitude is, in the circumstances, fairly understandable.

Absolutely stunning review. Went out and bought the book right after reading it. Not sure when I'll find the time to read the book, but thank you anyway, Warwick.

Wow. Thanks. I hope it lives up to expectations for you when you finally get around to it!

Excellent review! Now I'd like to read this as well. Colonial and postcolonial Africa is an ugly, ugly story.

Yeah it certainly can be. I need to read something more uplifting about the place next.

I don't know how to respond to this review, Warwick. I'm a bit speechless. It's rare that you come across a non-African who so passionately outlines the problems of African neighboring countries in so detailed a review. I'm in awe of the disgusted 'voice' in your narrative. This is a story told countless of times and still remains unheard. Masika's saddening story is that of countless women of the DRC, a country once reported to have had the highest statistics for women and girls raped, their husbands and sons taken away from them in the animalistic manner you describe. The way in which you underscore the colonial and post-colonial history is impressive - if only history was taught and not hidden, so we learn how to shape the future. Stellar review!

Oh, thank you, it's very kind of you to comment. Yes it's certainly true that DRC is – or was at the tail end of the last war, anyway – often cited as being "the worst place to be a woman" in the world. I do think it's important that the Congolese in general and women in particular are not always cast as victims in these stories though, since there is also a huge amount of grassroots organization, projects, development and popular culture that is easy to overlook (including in my review! And to be fair, van Reybrouck does take care to reflect that side of life there as well).

I was unprepared for your telling of the author's views of Lumumba. That's quite different from Kapuscinski's views (The Soccer War) who, if I read that book correctly, was there in those days, apparently heard him speak. It may be that this author's views are "persuasive", but to judge that Lumumba had whatever failings he had does not exactly prove that the authoritarian, pro-Western path (if that's what it was) that Mobutu took Congo on had a better outcome (short-term or long term) than paths that were cut short because if the CIA's bringing about the death of Lumumba. I have a feeling that this book, erudite as it may be, is not going to convince me one way or the other.

But Ted, Van Reybrouck is not trying to prove that Mobutu was a "better outcome" – far from it! It's only to say that Lumumba may not necessarily have been the flawless Congolese saviour that his martyrdom has made him out to be. It's still clear that he (or, frankly, anyone) would probably have been better than what they got.

Warwick wrote: "But Ted, Van Reybrouck is not trying to prove that Mobutu was a "better outcome" – far from it! It's only to say that Lumumba may not necessarily have been the flawless Congolese saviour that his m..."

Okay, thanks for the clarification Warwick. That certainly makes sense of course. I have ordered this book and will no doubt return to your review in due course! A 5-star rating from you is a fine recommendation, from my point of view.

Oh wow, great! Well I hope it impresses you half as much as it did me!

The book seems very bleak but none the less required reading. Thank you for the excellent review. I don't think I would have come across it otherwise.

It can be bleak but it's also quite optimistic at times – that's an angle that didn't really come out very well in this review!

Warwick wrote: "But Ted, Van Reybrouck is not trying to prove that Mobutu was a "better outcome" – far from it! It's only to say that Lumumba may not necessarily have been the flawless Congolese saviour that his m..."

I commented recently elsewhere about Gaddafi - if he'd been assassinated three or four years into his rule, he'd probably be remembered in similar saviour-ish manner. It's easy to be a saviour when you're liberating the country from something worse, when the people are still on your side, when your ideals haven't yet met insuperable obstacles, and when long years of social isolation and flattery haven't fed your narcissism and encouraged your eccentricities. I don't think it's a surprise that almost all the freedom fighters and liberators who weren't overthrown ended up as tyrannical madmen... [of course, some started out that way too]

Warwick - if I may ask about failed states... Been looking at the current classifications and expected to see Venezuela pretty high up, like in the top 10. But it's actually at 58. What was most surprising though was the very high ranking of Nigeria - a country I keep hearing about as very much on the up both culturally and economically; numerous places regularly reported as being an awful mess were considerably lower down. Do they have a heavy weighting for corruption that until a fairly advanced point outweighs general chaos?

I think Venezuela has always been doing not that badly – a lot of the chatter about it has had to do with political objections over Chávez rather than anything else. I don't know much about Nigeria except that it's a huge and populous country with an emerging middle class, which makes it attractive to media looking for ways to tell new stories about Africa which aren't just variations on ‘messed-up country is still messed up’, and this is especially true with Anglo media since it's an English-speaking country. But this is just speculation, I can't speak too much to the discrepancy you notice since looking at the list I can't say it seems that unexpected to me. I guess a lot of it has to do with expectations – it's assumed that many African countries will be dysfunctional, so stories about their dysfunctionality don't get much traction on the grounds that they don't seem like news, whereas stories about a thriving Nigerian film industry are going to seem proportionally more newsworthy.

Thanks. Good points about Nigeria.

I was meaning these kinds of relatively recent (post-Chavez) developments in / reporting about Venezuela:
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/20...

this is the best review I've ever read on goodreads

Wow, thank you!

Thank you for the thoughtful and enlightening review. I bought the book in a bookstore recently. I mostly read ebooks, but I feel compelled to buy books whenever I find myself in an indie bookstore and find promising books about topics I know very little about. This promised to tell a story of the Congo people as agents, and not merely passive victims of colonialism. From your review, I see that it was a good choice. That it's going to be very hard to read-- well, I had figured that. Thank you.

This is a stupendous book. And I agree that this is the best review I have ever read on Goodreads.

Thank you! I obviously found it a very motivating book to read.