{"product_id":"congo-the-epic-history-of-a-people","title":"Congo: The Epic History of a People","description":"\u003cp\u003eHailed as \"a monumental history . . . more exciting than any novel\" (NRC Handelsblad), David van Reybrouck's rich and gripping epic, in the tradition of Robert Hughes' \u003ci\u003eThe Fatal Shore\u003c\/i\u003e, tells the extraordinary story of one of the world's most devastated countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEpic in scope yet eminently readable, penetrating and deeply moving, David van Reybrouck's \u003ci\u003eCongo: The Epic History of a People\u003c\/i\u003e traces the fate of one of the world's most critical, failed nation-states, second only to war-torn Somalia: the Democratic Republic of Congo in Central Africa.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVan Reybrouck takes us through several hundred years of history, bringing some of the most dramatic episodes in Congolese history. Here are the people and events that have impinged the Congo's development--from the slave trade to the ivory and rubber booms; from the arrival of Henry Morton Stanley to the tragic regime of King Leopold II; from global indignation to Belgian colonialism; from the struggle for independence to Mobutu's brutal rule; and from the world famous Rumble in the Jungle to the civil war over natural resources that began in 1996 and still rages today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVan Reybrouck interweaves his own family's history with the voices of a diverse range of individuals--charismatic dictators, feuding warlords, child-soldiers, the elderly, female merchant smugglers, and many in the African diaspora of Europe and China--to offer a deeply humane approach and a definitive work of political history, focusing squarely on the Congolese perspective and returning a nation's history to its people.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis meticulously researched work of African history explores: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eBelgian Colonialism: \u003c\/b\u003e Uncover the tragic regime of King Leopold II and the rubber and ivory booms that shaped a nation.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe Struggle for Independence: \u003c\/b\u003e Witness the fight for freedom from colonial powers and the global indignation that accompanied it.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003ePost-Colonial Africa: \u003c\/b\u003e Follow the transition from independence to the brutal, four-decade rule of Mobutu Sese Seko.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe Congolese Perspective: \u003c\/b\u003e Hear the voices of a diverse range of individuals, from charismatic dictators and feuding warlords to child-soldiers and merchant smugglers.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Ecco Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51984273834215,"sku":"9780062200129","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0449\/4075\/5096\/files\/imageloader_76b2c37e-a95b-42b3-81ed-9a0891c6e9cc.jpg?v=1776315534","url":"https:\/\/arvidabookco.com\/products\/congo-the-epic-history-of-a-people","provider":"Arvida Book Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}