Review of King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild

Mutilated children from the Congo Free State A Congolese man looking at the hand and foot of his daughter Cartoon criticizing Leopold’s rule I’ll give the last word to one of Leopold’s contemporaries. It’s no wonder that Mark Twain wrote, In fourteen years Leopold has deliberately destroyed more lives than have suffered death on all […]

Edmund Morel and the Belgian Congo

Today I’d like to introduce everyone to one of my new favorite people in history. His name is Edmund Morel, and he ranks among the most heroic figures in the sordid history of the Belgian Congo. Edmund Morel shouldn’t be a historical figure at all. He was a clerk in a shipping company named Elder […]