King Leopold's Ghost Summary

In Adam Hochschild's book, King Leopold's Ghost,he uses his educational and life experiences as historian. Additionally, not only does this book reach from an education of politics but also human rights. Hochschild is questioning: How so many people accept the exploration stories of men filled with greed, charm, and cunning (Hochschild. p.6). Today, you rarely hear stories told from the Africans point-of-view. Hochschild thesis is that if, we had both point-of-views we could make stronger arguments. The author's concept is that after the Atlantic slave trade is responsible for the increase and brutality of slavery, as well as the large number of slaves.

The main idea of the book, is that the brutality associated with King Leopold's
kingdom, is partly responsible for European Imperialism. The purpose of the book is to inform people of the criminal acts, by Europeans in Africa. Furthermore, the book reveals of Leopold's misleading activities in order to gain territory in Africa. As, a result of Leopold's misleading activities he made many gains. Also, the author focuses on the fact that most of the European explorers were Christians, converted into slavery through greed. Additionally, the author further includes accounts of how life was in Africa. The book is written on a high school or early collegiate level. The authors use of active verbs formed efficient and more powerful sentences. Most of the facts revealed in the book were already known, forming believable deductive reasoning. Also, Hochschild's, usage of language brings the characters and emotions alive.