Rating: 
Summary: Not a Convincing Case
Review: If you like your history books to be spell-binding and riveting and read like great fiction (as apparently do a number of those who have previously submitted reviews) you may well enjoy this book. However, if you hold to only slightly higher standards, you will quickly see Hochschild's historical scholarship for what it is not. The story he tells is that horrible things happened to native Africans in the exploration and development of the Congo. This is true. And for this King Leopold was roundly (and justifiably) criticized at the time. But did King Leopold foresee, promote, cause, or worst of all, intend such evil? Hochschild says he did. How else, he asks, do you explain what happened? To further bolster his case against King Leopold Hochschild points out a number of personal shortcomings of Leopold (seems he had a bunch of crazy relatives and he favored young girls). And Hochschild repeatedly offers his own unique insights into the thought process of this evil genius. All speculation and conjecture. Hochschild never connects the historical dots.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally!!!
Review: A book that tells the truth about colonialism, and all the greed, racism, exploitation and violence behind it. A very little known mass murder comes to life in this very book. This book holds nothing back as it explains Belgian Congo in full, vivid detail. This period should be called the Paragon of Africans! Europeans thought of the Africans as inferior savages, while in reality the Europeans were mutilating and murdering people by the millions! Well written book and very addicting. A must read for anyone!
Rating: 
Summary: Colonialism Condemned
Review: Adam Hochschild has written a riveting, meticulously footnoted history of the Belgian Congo and the evil perpetrated by the colonial power on the people who lived there. While I appreciate the particular nature of King Leopold's colony (it was owned by the individual King Leopold,not by the country of Belgium) This certainly made its rule more arbitrary and less likely to be reined in by common sense and general humanity. However, the book failed to make its case that the system itself created the environment where atrocity was not only possible, but likely. He tried, but reading through the reviews here, it's clear he didn't communicate that well enough. As an antidote to the "Bad Belgian" impression some readers may get despite Hochschild's effort to show it was the system of colonialism itself that made it possible. The atrocities didn't occur simply because Leopold was evil (no matter how evil he was) but because the system itself by putting one people over another, creates the necessary structure for mass murder, slavery and genocide. Another reviewer mentioned Exterminate All the Brutes. If you are interested in this history, you should read that as well. It's a small gem of a book that shows that the dehumanization of colonialism was widespread and not just practiced by the Belgians.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Eye-Opener
Review: Hochschild really opened my eyes about the tragedy in the Belgian Congo, and for that I'm very thankful I was introduced to(well, made to read actually) :) this book. Hochschild puts a very personal face on the Congo but it seems a bit shallow. It's filled with facts, but it doesn't seem to encompass the whole picture. It's definately not the "tell all, end all" on the subject. This is a good read, filled with biographies, but it is just a start.
Rating:
Summary: All Conservatives Should Read this Book...
Review: The stories of genocide here are truly shocking. This is a chapter of history most people don't know, and illustrates just how much Western leaders are responsible for trouble that happens in Africa even now.
Rating:
Summary: well done
Review: One of my favorite aspects of good historical nonfiction is that it conveys a sense of detail, depth, and texture that is sometimes absent from the most perceptive fiction. Hochshild's book concerns not only King Leopold, as the title seems to imply, but an immense collection of both famous and lesser participants and variables in the Congo issue. One will be enthralled by the political dexterity of King Leopold, and his procedure for securing and gaining worldwide respect for his mission. King Leopold's Ghost is all the more readable because it is not polemically charged. Hochschild does not seek a "politically-correct" blanket indictment of Western Civilization that is popular these days. Hochschild, the historian, carefully and explicitly reminds us of the complexity of historical men and motives, of the savagery and benevolence of Africans and Europeans alike.
Rating:
Summary: Horrifying history of colonial cruelty!
Review: Lets face it! Belgium is not a country that readily springs tomind when one thinks of perpetrators of mass murder &genocide. This makes the harrowing story of King Leopold's Ghost all the more harrowing. His single-minded, obsessive desire to carve out a piece of the "African cake", that most of his neighbouring European colleagues were busy doing in the late 19th. century, is fascinating enough. His cunning use of contempory international personalities, the manipulation of the media, the guise of an anti-slavery organisation to further his ends, might even allow one a grudging admiration for the man's abilities. However, his cavalier indifference to the suffering & death of millions of the Congo natives that he caused in the sordid pursuit of personal profit, is quite simply appalling. One is left with a feeling of admiration for the fierce & dauntless opponants of this tyranical regime, contempt for the lily-livered support they received from statesmen of so-called enlightened countries & loathing for the king that brought these deeds to pass. The book, I would mention, is well written, well researched & recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A piece of trash
Review: I really looked forward to reading this book, hoping to gain additional insight into a fascinating period of history. Instead I was dismayed to find myself reading what amounts to a politically correct fable. This book is shot through with "it's a possibility that so-and-so did this" and "It's reasonable to assume that such-and-such could have happened". Is this what passes for historical scholarship? Not only that but incredibly there is no evidence given to support the book's central thesis, that millions of Africans were killed during the time of Leopold's control of the Congo. As far as I'm concerned the author accomplished his primary purpose, to grind his politically correct axe at the expense of people no longer alive to defend themselves. If you want to find out about this period and place in history look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Heart of Darkness and Light
Review: A truly horrifying account of gross capitalist imperialism at work in the Congo region, one must remember that the Belgian colony was merely one of many slaughterhouses in Africa run by European imperialists. It is a sad fact that since the Cold War, Africa has not escaped the grasp of violence and exploitation; only the color of the villain's skin is different. However, the book shows that there are individuals who rise up against all opposition and win a war previously thought hopeless. Hopefully, people like Williams, Morel, and Casement will face old enemies on the same battlefield and force an unquestionable victory.
Rating:
Summary: History that reads like fiction.
Review: This detailed, well researched history took me back, in fulfilling detail, to an era I knew nothing about and into the dark hearts of some of history's worst monsters. The writer deserves every praise and award he gets.
| 
