King Leopold Ghosts Essay

king Leopold ghost

King Leopold's Ghost
A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial
Africa
Adam Hochschild
A MARINER BOOK
Houghton Mifflin Company
BOSTON NEW YORK
FOR
DAVID HUNTER
(1916–2000)
FIRST MARINER BOOKS EDITION 1999
Copyright © 1998 by Adam Hochschild
All rights reserved
For information about permission to reproduce selections from
this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Company,
215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hochschild, Adam.
King Leopold's ghost : a story of greed, terror, and heroism in
colonial Africa / Adam Hochschild.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-395-75924-0 ISBN-13: 978-0-618-00190-3 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 0-395-75924-2 ISBN-10: 0-618-00190-5 (pbk.)
1. Congo (Democratic Republic)—Politics and government
—1885–1908. 2. Congo (Democratic Republic)—Politics and
government. 3. Forced labor—Congo (Democratic Republic)—
History—19th century. 4. Forced labor—Congo (Democratic Republic)
—History—20th century. 5. Indigenous peoples—Congo (Democratic
Republic)—History— 19th century. 6. Indigenous
peoples—Congo (Democratic Republic)—History—20th century.
7. Congo (Democratic Republic)—Race relations—History—19th
century. 8. Congo (Democratic Republic)—Race relations—History—
20th century. 9. Human rights movements—History— 19th century. 10.
Human rights movements—History—20th century.
I.Title.
DT655.H63 1998
967.5 —dc21 98-16813 CIP
Printed in the United States of America
QUM 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14
Book design by Melodie Wertelet
Map by Barbara Jackson, Meridian Mapping, Oakland, California
Photo credits appear on [>].
In somewhat different form, portions of chapters 9 and 19 appeared in The
New Yorker, and portions of chapters 5 and 16 in The American Scholar.

CONTENTS
Introduction [>]
Prologue: "The Traders Are Kidnapping Our People" [>]
PART I: WALKING INTO FIRE
1. "I...