{"product_id":"congo-the-epic-history-of-a-people-isbn-9780062200112","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' \u003cem\u003eThe Fatal Shore\u003c\/em\u003e, tells the extraordinary story of one of the world's most devastated countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Epic in scope yet eminently readable, penetrating and deeply moving, David van Reybrouck's \u003cem\u003eCongo: The Epic History of a People\u003c\/em\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.\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 to political history, focusing squarely on the Congolese perspective and returning a nation's history to its people.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003eThe gripping saga of one of the world's most devastated countries\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Democratic Republic of Congo currently ranks among the world's most failed nation-states, second only to war-torn Somalia. David Van Reybrouck's \u003cem\u003eCongo: The Epic History\u003c\/em\u003e of a People traces the history of this devastated nation from the beginnings of the slave trade through the arrival of Sir Henry Morton Stanley, the ivory and rubber booms, colonization, the struggle for independence, and the three decades of Mobutu's brutal rule. Van Reybrouck also examines the civil war—the world's deadliest conflict since the Second World War. Still raging today after seventeen years, the Congolese war is driven, in part, by the demand for the rare-earth minerals required to make cell phones.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVan Reybrouck has balanced hundreds of interviews with meticulous historical research to construct a many-dimensional portrait of the rich and convoluted history of Congo. Taking pains to seek out the Congolese perspective on the country's history, Van Reybrouck creates a panoramic canvas wherein the child soldiers whom he encounters in the eastern rebel territories talk candidly about their choices and misfortunes, and where elderly Congolese—some of them more than one hundred years old—reminisce about their lives in a country where the average life expectancy has dropped to forty-five.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVast in scope yet eminently readable, both penetrating and deeply moving, \u003cem\u003eCongo\u003c\/em\u003e does for Africa what Robert Hughes's masterful and novelistic \u003cem\u003eThe Fatal Shore\u003c\/em\u003e did for Australia. Van Reybrouck takes a deeply humane approach to political history, focusing squarely on the Congolese perspective and returning a nation's history to its people. Published to rave reviews in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2010, Congo has now been gracefully translated by the exceptional Sam Garrett, most recently the translator of Herman Koch's bestselling \u003cem\u003eThe Dinner\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“[A] detailed and well-researched biography, thoroughly rooted in the lived experience of the Congolese… It is clear that the author is not your typical historian dryly publishing his findings, but a literary artist with a pen almost as sharp as Lumumba’s tongue.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThinkAfricaPress.com\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Van Reybrouck tells his story . . . through numerous astute and intelligent voices of the Congo citizens and storytellers. . . . [Van Reybrouck] is not just an historian but a significant ethnographer who deeply cares about the people whose history he is narrating.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRain Taxi\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Balancing research with personal testimonies, Van Reybrouck . . . presents a panoramic account of Congo’s turbulent past.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review: Paperback Row\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A magnificent, epic look at the history of the region… A monumental contribution to the annals of Congo scholarship.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Christian Science Monitor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Van Reybrouck’s extensive account reveals the depth and breadth of exploitation, particularly under Belgian colonial rule, and how Congo’s story is one fraught with the toxic cycle of ‘desire, frustration, revenge.’” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Van Reybrouck makes a good case for the importance of Congo to world history and its ongoing centrality in a time of resurgent economic colonialism, this time on the part of China. - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“...this sweeping history of Congo begins during the precolonial era and brings readers all the way up to the current era of warlords and civil war. Van Reybrouck’s carefully researched and elegantly written book takes in the reader with compelling portraits of ordinary people that enrich what would otherwise be a fairly conventional historical narrative.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eForeign Affairs\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Van Reybrouck’s carefully researched and elegantly written book takes in the reader with compelling portraits of ordinary people that enrich what would otherwise be a fairly conventional historical narrative.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eForeign Affairs\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A vivid panorama of one of the most tormented lands in the world… A valuable addition to the rich literature that Congo has inspired.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A well-documented and passionate narrative which reads like a novel. [..] As an eye, a judge, and a witness, a talented writer testifies.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eV.Y.M.  Mudimbe, author of The Invention of Africa\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Congo is a remarkable piece of work. Van Reybrouck [keeps] a panoramic history of a vast and complex nation accessible, intimate and particular.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMichela Wrong, author of In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“a monumental history . . . more exciting than any novel.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNRC Handelsblad\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“An unbelievable tour de force.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHumo\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“An absolute masterpiece!” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eVPRO Radio\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Breathtaking.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTrouw\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“If you are looking to read one book on Congo this year, this is it.  David Van Reybrouck combines deep historical investigation with extensive ethnography.  The result is an illuminating narrative.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMahmood Mamdani, Director of the Makerere Institute of Social Research and author of Good Muslim, Bad Muslim\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A well-documented and passionate narrative which reads like a novel. In a first-person rendering, Van Reybrouck retraces the stories and confrontations that bring together Congolese post-colonial clamors of the twentieth century and the late nineteenth century colonial adventures that explain them. As an eye, a judge, and a witness, a talented writer testifies.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eV.Y.M.  Mudimbe, author of The Invention of Africa\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This is a magnificent account, intimately researched, and relevant for anyone interested in how the recent past may inform our near future… Van Reybrouck’s bibliography alone is worth the cover price. But what distinguishes the book is its clearheadedness.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“... a compelling mixture of literary and oral history that delivers an authentic story of how European colonialism, African resistance, and the endless exploitation of natural resources affected the lives of the Congolese.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ecco","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44888695374053,"sku":"NP9780062200112","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780062200112.jpg?v=1730229640","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/congo-the-epic-history-of-a-people-isbn-9780062200112","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}