Monday, February 24, 2014

Review: Leopold II: Butcher of the Congo by Tod Olson



Leopold's (Prince of Belgium) own father didn't care much for him.  He main goal in life was to have his own colony - and he chose the Congo.  Hundreds of thousands (at least) died so that he could acquire it..  And it wasn't until a few brave souls brought it to the public, that Belgium took over from him.  Maybe the damage was already too late.  Maybe it could have been worse (though that is hard to imagine).

The history of the Congo has always fascinated me - maybe because it is colonialism at its worst.  This book is part of a series called Wicked History written for younger readers and I think this is history we need to know.

Wicked History Scholastic Series of Books

This book explores not only his brutality, but the journey of HM Stanley at his urging (an account of which is horrifying as well).  Greedy is a good subtitle for the book.

I read this book in one sitting

Terri

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