Holocaust Book Report

When reading about history, one comes across a rather unfortunate number of mass killings. From the slow destruction of the Native American peoples, to the brief but devastating Holocaust, to modern terrorist attacks, history books tell of atrocity after atrocity. If one were to ask a random person on the street, he or she could probably provide a decent explanation of any of these events. After all, humanity has a fascination with violent and horrific acts, so if people remember anything from high school history class, it is likely a tragedy. However, there is one historic massacre that is seldom discussed: the African holocaust. The enslavement and deaths of more than eight million Congolese people seem to have been wiped from humanity’s
The reign of King Leopold II over the Congo began in 1876. He held a Geographical Conference in Brussels and disguised his lust for land and lucrative resources as a humanitarian effort to civilize the African people, which gained his conquest approval from other European leaders. The king then convinced famed African explorer Henry Morton Stanley to lead his mission in the Congo and begin buying land from African leaders, forming a large colony, which he named the Congo Free State. During the late 1800s, King Leopold took control of the Congo and raided it for ivory and rubber. He and his agents in Africa used the Congolese for all of the labor-intense jobs associated with these resources; though he called them volunteers, the natives were essentially slaves, kidnapped, chained, and forced to work with the threat of severe punishment looming over them. Those that did not die by whip or bullet fell to starvation, disease, and exhaustion, and the few that survived lived in terrible conditions. For years, King Leopold II hid this brutality from the rest of the world under a meticulously-crafted façade of humanitarianism. Eventually, however, visitors to his colony noticed the cruelties and wrote of them. A young British shipping agent, Edmund Morel, lead the revolt against Leopold’s Congo, and African-Americans
Hochschild describes grisly details in a way just gruesome enough to make one appalled, but never disturbed. His writing style could easily be described as wordy, and he has an affinity for long, complex sentences. That said, his writing is never too confusing to understand, and it leaves the reader feeling knowledgeable about the topic. The most distinctive part about the book, Hochschild’s detailed examination of the cast of historical characters, is its key to both success and downfall. On one hand, the descriptions give life to unknown historical figures and make them round and dynamic, helping the book read like a fictitious novel. On the other hand, however, the lengthy descriptions occur at random points throughout the book, pulling readers out of the plot and leaving them confused upon their return to the action of the story. Overall, however, Hochschild does an excellent job of translating a dark, historical subject into a readable, interesting