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Club Read 2009 : charbutton's 2009 reading #2		126	charbutton, Yesterday 7:52am
Club Read 2009 : RidgewayGirl's 2009 Reading		110	RidgewayGirl, Tuesday 4:40pm
History at 30,000 feet: The Big Picture : What we're reading now		240	Busifer, December 9
100 Books Challenge for 2009 : FicusFan's Reading in 2009		277	FicusFan, December 7
999 Challenge : Jebronse's		138	jebronse, December 1
History at 30,000 feet: The Big Picture : German history at 30,000 feet		153	Feicht, November 12
Awful Lit. : Books to be struck from HS reading lists!		263	dukeallen, October 22
History at 30,000 feet: The Big Picture : Five Most Important History Books I've Read in the Last 5 Years		82	Feicht, October 14
999 Challenge : MusicMom41's 999 challenge		341	MusicMom41, October 6
999 Challenge : RidgewayGirl's		277	RidgewayGirl, October 4
Book talk : Ok, this is a good one. What is the most disturbing book you have read?		389	Phlox72, September 17
African Literature, History and Politics : History of Africa		2	johnthefireman, September 14
999 Challenge : DevourerofBooks's 999 Categories		40	sjmccreary, September 4
What Are You Reading Now? : Share a line or passage from your current book, part 3		254	whymaggiemay, August 12
50 Book Challenge : - AdmiralJ		13	AdmiralJ, July 25
What Are You Reading Now? : What Are You Reading the Week of 30 May, 2009?		231	FicusFan, June 8
Club Read 2009 : ClubRead Recommendations - Non-Fiction		22	MarianV, June 2
Ancient History : History in the News 2009		290	Feicht, May 20
Book talk : Another Silly Game - Part 20		504	hemlokgang, April 26
Book Nudgers : christiguc requesting her first 2009 nudge please		13	dylanwolf, April 7
BookNotes : Book I want to find		4	tracyfox, April 1
Club Read 2009 : INTERESTING ARTICLES on books, authors, reading ...etc		134	rebeccanyc, February 27
Book Nudgers : Jan. 23: First Request		21	baobab, February 20
999 Challenge : seanelavelle's 999 Challenege		27	seanelavelle, February 11
What Are You Reading Now? : Your BEST BOOKS of 2008		174	MissTeacher, January 18
Book of the month club : Year in Review		12	tjsjohanna, January 11
Book Nudgers : christiguc is looking for another nudge		26	Soupdragon, January 7
75 Books Challenge for 2008 : SKF's books read in 2008		33	skf, January 4
50 Book Challenge : Kate's for 2008		7	kepitcher, January 1
50 Book Challenge : Laura's books for 2008		76	lbucci3, December 2008
SFFWorld : Most interesting non SFF books of the year.		12	Jim53, October 2008
What Are You Reading Now? : Book Roots! How we come to have the books we read!		100	grelobe, September 2008
What Are You Reading Now? : A Great Book I've Read in 2008 Because of LT . . .		86	alans, September 2008
Reading Globally : African literature		154	akeela, September 2008
Reading Globally : Suggestions Please		20	A_musing, September 2008
What Are You Reading Now? : What You're Reading the Week of 23 August 2008		240	Morphidae, September 2008
What Are You Reading Now? : What You're Reading the Week of 16 August 2008		267	Transcending, August 2008
What Are You Reading Now? : What You're Reading the Week of 9 August 2008		200	richardderus, August 2008
888 Challenge : Moneybeets' 888		18	moneybeets, August 2008
Non-Fiction Readers : Message Board		94	FicusFan, August 2008
What Are You Reading Now? : Top 3 Reads July 2008		48	Medellia, August 2008
What Are You Reading Now? : What Books Came Into Your Home Today? - #2: JULY. 2008		231	IaaS, August 2008
What Are You Reading Now? : What You're Reading the Week of 19 July 2008		216	msf59, July 2008
What Are You Reading Now? : What You're Reading the Week of 12 July 2008		315	cameling, July 2008
What Are You Reading Now? : What You're Reading the Week of 5 July 2008		264	Whicker, July 2008
What Are You Reading Now? : What You're Reading the Week of 28 June 2008		219	Cariola, July 2008
What Are You Reading Now? : What Books Came Into Your Home Today? - May. 2008		236	annatapl, June 2008
Dormant: Readers Without Borders : Welcome!		22	Pandababy, April 2008
Dormant: 50 Book Challenge : charbutton's list		12	charbutton, December 2007
Dormant: Reading Globally : Where in the World Are You Know? July 2007		123	cestovatela, July 2007
Dormant: What Are You Reading Now? : What You're Reading the Week of 30 June 2007		141	jeniferbal, July 2007
Dormant: Reading Globally : Where in the World are You Now? June 2007		143	fikustree, June 2007
Dormant: Upstate New Yorkers : Might as well get the ball rolling		40	andyray, June 2007
Dormant: What did YOU buy today? : Message Board #3 (Feb. 2007)		98	Shrike58, March 2007

I'm half way through King Leopold's Ghost, it's alternately fascinating and sad.

I'll second King Leopold's Ghost. We all know that Europe screwed over Africa, but I didn't really appreciate how horrible it was until reading that book.

... Through the Darkness of the Armenian Genocide Margaret Ajemian Ahnert - from a survivor, written by her daughter. King Leopold's Ghost : A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Adam Hochschild - in case you are wondering what Europe did to Africa. In Belgian Congo the ...

... - Africa and the curse of the nation-state by Basil Davidson The Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism by Adam Hochschild I have many more books on some of the specific countries and issues which interest me ...

>43 I have to agree with Dan's recommendation of King Leopold's Ghost, it puts the era in perspective. I never have liked Conrad either, but it became more interesting to me after reading KL's Ghost.

Thank you, Daniel, for suggesting King Leopold's Ghost. I had heard of the book, and now I will look for a copy. I have always admired Conrad's writing style and his command of the language. As a non native speaker of English myself, I am well aware of the challenges a foreign language ...

I can't help but mention King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild. I see it's already in Charlotte's library, but not solla's or Paola's. I can recommend it highly. One of the arguments in the book is that Conrad, who spent time in Belgian Congo, was trying to capture the atmosphere he experienced ...

... - a couple edits: All of Europe committed a type of genocide in Africa, even Belgium. Germany is hardly unique. See King Leopold's Ghost. To Bismark's credit, he had no intention of setting up WWI. It was Kaiser Wilhelm who played the fool. His blunders lost a critical alliance with Br ...

Hi Dchaikin, Yes I have read King Leopold's Ghost. I too agree that Conrad got the details from life. I don't know that I think Conrad was judgmental, he was after all foreign to the culture of Victorian England. He was probably just writing a story based on his experiences. I think its ...

... think he was, to an extent, reporting from his own experiences. There is a powerful nonfiction book on Belgian Congo called King Leopold's Ghost. One chapter focus's on HOD and argues that Conrad's story had a lot of factual basis. Conrad had spent time working in Belgian Congo. To me he gets a ...

Thanks coloradogirl14. I have read King Leopold's Ghost last summer which was about Belgium Congo, so I have some background in the history. Hopefully it will be OK.

#20 - Isn't King Leopold's Ghost just an insane story? I found it wild that Conrad didn't make that stuff up.

Off the top of my head: King Leopold's Ghost: A story of greed, terror, and heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty by Caroline Alexander. The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece by Jonathan Harr The Diary ...

King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild is a surprisingly readable account of the colonization of the Congo basin in Africa. Hochschild is hampered by the lack of African voices in this sad tale, but he does his best to keep the victims in view as people and not just Victims. The facts of the ...

King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild is only my second history book of the year, but if they continue in this vein, I will have to go on Prozac or hug kittens before the next one. It's a very, very good book, astonishingly readable and the author works hard to find the voices of the ...

... I can have a half hour before my day starts, but then I'm too tired at night to do more than go to sleep! I've been reading King Leopold's Ghost, which is very readable and very good, but wrenching. I took a short break when I got a copy of What Angels Fear. I have no idea where I heard of it ...

... n 9. Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum 10.What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris 11.Garnethill by Denise Mina 12.King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild 13.Tattoo Machine by Jeff Johnson 14.Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain 15.In the Woods by Tana French ...

King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild; read a couple of years ago

Finished King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild recently. It took me a while to get through this one, though I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ever since I read The Poisonwood Bible I've been really interested in African history, particularly in the Congo. Oh, the atrocities outlined in this book. ...

Let me nudge King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild because it is on my TBR pile and it looks interesting.

... by Jonathan Trigell Black Sun by Geoffrey Wolff King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild Mephisto by Klaus Mann The Glass-Blowers by

baobob - yes thanks. King Leopold's Ghost is an excellent background/history book to the Poisonwood. It is quite horrifying what happened in the Congo in the nineteenth century. Another book that devotes some time to the Congo's colonization is the excellent and very readable The Vertigo Year ...

Thanks, everybody! Based on the numbers I'm starting The Poisonwood Bible. kiwidoc, were you referring to King Leopold's Ghost as the book about the tragedy of the Congo? I've had that one on my shelf for quite a while. Poisonwood might give me enough of a shove to actually take it down and read ...

... Kavenna Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History by Patrick Hunt The Corn King and the Spring Queen by Naomi Mitchison King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild Food A Day at elBulli by Ferran Adria Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant by Jenni Ferrari-Adler (999?) The Short Life ...

... It makes me think of Henry Morton Stanley of Stanley and Livingstone fame, who did much the same thing (as read in King Leopold's Ghost.

... of a 15 year old autistic boy. He starts to investigate the murder of a neighborhood dog, and his whole life unravels. King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild (non-fiction) Story of the Belgian Congo and how the Belgian King Leopold stole a huge swath of Africa from the people living there, ...

... only "recently" taken place elsewhere. To throw another book in the mix here, if no one's ever read Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost, I recommend it. It's the story of the Belgian Congo through Belgian eyes, basically, but one of the most interesting bits I gleaned from it was how ...

... Recognition by William Gibson Pavilion of Women Pearl S. Buck The Shack by William P. Young Non-Fiction: King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild Ronnie by Ronnie Wood Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

... Back the Vote: getting American youth involved in our democracy, by Jane Eisner 25. Cat's Eye, by Margaret Atwood 26. King Leopold's Ghost: a story of greed, terror and heroism in colonial Africa, by Adam Hothschild 27. A Girl Named Zippy: Growing up small in Mooreland, Indiana, by Haven ...

... in a nudge for Cancer Ward. Solzhenitsyn is a major writer who doesn't seem to get enough notice. Like others, I think King Leopold's Ghost sounds very interesting. I also think you can't go wrong with Natalie Zemon Davis' Return of Martin Guerre. Consider that last one a 1/2 nudge : ...

I agree with avaland and I nudge King Leopolds Ghost

I'm nudging King Leopold's Ghost which is a thoroughly engrossing story of greed and brutality and heroism. There is not much from the Africans viewpoint but the author acknowledges this up front and explains why. The book is loaded with stuff - like the background of Conrad's Heart of Darkness ...

... I liked it. Also enjoyed The Lover and The Club Dumas. King Leopold's ghost has been on my TBR list since I read The Poisonwood Bible as it deals with the horrors of the Congo in the 1800s. I must get around to it. Not a ...

... say- Le Grand Meaulnes or The Return of Martin Guerre. Those ae the ones that I have read and liked. I am curious about King Leopold's Ghost- I think that I put it on my wish list! Happy Reading!

Ha! I put King Leopold's Ghost on my list because I really like Heart of Darkness. I'll give Blood River a try. The Devil's Teeth is fantastic. Really full of a true assortment of bits of history and nature. You will never look at seagulls in the same way. The variety and obscurity of ...

I loved Oryx and Crake. I just read King Leopold's Ghost this year and it was amazing. Heartbreaking and upsetting, but still a great read about an area I am learning more and more about (The Congo). That and Blood River by Tim Butcher have really got me excited to read Heart of Darkne ...

#26 King Leopold's Ghost #27 The Real James Herriot #28 Dreams of Tresspass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood #29 Mirage: Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt #30 Jane Boleyn: The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford

... y: 1. Ilan Pappe - The ethnic cleansing of Palestine 2. Tom Holland - Persian fire 3. Adam Hochschild - King Leopold's Ghost 4. Christopher Hitchens - God is not great 5. Geert Mak - In Europa 6. David Rothkopf - Superclass I don't know about the ...

... Tears of the Desert (memoir) 6. Godwin, Peter: When a Crocodile Eats the Sun (memoir) 7. Hochschild, Adam: King Leopold's Ghost 8. Flint, Julie & Alex de Waal: Darfur: A New History of a Long War 9. Achebe, Chinua: Home and Exile READ 2009 Other possibilities: Veal, T ...

... to the Top by Ed Viesturs 5. While They Slept by Kathryn Harrison 6. King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild 7. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain 8. Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by ...

... White Ball. Also turned out to be about his life, his writing, the time period and the early celebrity-vulture culture. King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild About how the Belgian king stole and then ran the Congo in Africa. Quite horrific.

... Junger 3. Dearest Friend: A Life of Abigail Adams by Lynne Withey 4. Justinian's Flea by William Rosen 5. King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild 6. Organic, Inc by Samuel Fromartz 7. 8. 9.

I finally finished one of my book log jam ! It was the non-fiction King Leopold's Ghost about the start of the Belgian Congo. It was very good. Lots of details, about the atrocities and the fight to remove Leopold. Unfortunately it was a change in name only. There was only a small bit ...

... have lost track of the weeks and so my book group reads were all due and I didn't finish them. I am still mostly reading Leopold's Ghost, I started it first, am within 70 pages of the end, and completing it will make me feel like I accomplished something. I started Icarus Hunt by Timothy Za ...

... but interesting as it gives you insight in the recent history of Iran/Persia. And on Congo I would definately suggest King Leopold's ghost by Adam Hochschild (non-fiction), and perhaps The poisonwood bible by Barbara Kingsolver as fiction, even though she is an American author. By ...

I was happily cruising along, reading King Leopold's Ghost (though I was away most of last week and didn't get any reading done, too tired at the end of the day). I suddenly realized that I have Two books due for Book Groups next week. Oops. I am now starting The Icarus Hunt by T ...

I am now reading King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild. A very gripping read about the creation of the colony: Belgian Congo in Africa. I am about halfway through. I saw the book listed here on LT. I thought I would give it a try since I have a book coming that is about events in that ...

#47: FicusFan - I recently read King Leopold's Ghost as a compliment to Heart of Darkness and got a lot out of it. Hope you enjoy. Note, however, that the main history stops roughly with the death of King Leopold II, decades before the 1950's. I finished The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw ...

... go for the Swedish mystery or a modern Japanese book Grotesque or Sayonara Bar next, but I went for a non-fiction King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild. I am preparing (hopefully) for a book I ordered set in the Congo in the 1950s, and I wanted to have some background before it ...

... that leaves two... both were great. 1. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant -- Among other things, just a good story. 2. King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hachschild -- non-fiction history of the "Congo Free State" of Heart of Darkness infamy. It lasted 23 years and killed ~10 million people. ...

... for movie Infamous) Cork Boat by John Pollack (RL Book Group Read) The Elephant and the Dragon by Robyn Meredith King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild (LT Inspired) The U.S. Constitution for Everyone by Jerome Agel (From the $3.99 bin) Barnes & Noble The Vampire Survival Gu ...

... So, I decided to re-read Heart of Darkness and I'm glad did. It was a little bit of a different book after reading King Leopold's Ghost, the descriptions had a lot more weight. But mostly I think I needed to read it again to get better sense of it. Now I'm reading The Red Tent, a ...

dchaiken, you might look into In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz as a follow-up to King Leopold's Ghost. I just read it not too long ago, and I thought it was a very good history of the Mobutu years.

... a line or passage from your current book, part 2 From King Leopold's Ghost, a nonfiction history of Congo. This is about Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. "High School teachers and college professors who have discussed ...

Finished King Leopold's Ghost late last night. I had read this as a follow up to Heart of Darkness (as recommended here on LT, thanks!). It's a history of the Congo, where, under Belgian King Leopold II, the entire country was put into slavery and 10-million died from roughly 1880-1910. It also ...

... on LT. It's a "coffee table" book of aerial photographs with a geology theme, very nice. Another from the library. King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild - An LT recommendation (from avaland especially, but others too) because I had read Heart of Darkness. A great recommendation, I'm ...

I'm at the beginning of King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild.

dchaikin, I will be interested in what you think of King Leopold's Ghost after your recent read of Heart of Darkness . . .

... together with a geology theme. A nice treat for the eyes. From the library this weekend I picked up The Red Tent and King Leopold's Ghost, the later thanks to recommendations here on LT. My plan is those will be next.

Agree about King Leopold's Ghost. This year so far, off the top of my head, I can think of Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, which I read because of LT (and then went on to read the rest of the trilogy; The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim, which I moved up in my TBR pile ...

I'd like to second the recommendation for King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild, a sad story ultimately, but really riveting history.

btw, dchaikin, I saw on the other thread you have read and enjoyed Heart of Darkness; have you read King Leopold's Ghost? A great (but grim) book and a nice companion to the Conrad (who is mentioned in the book, of course).

... several non-fiction books about the personal fiefdom of Belgium's Leopold II, the setting of the novel. I would recommend King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa for starters. Read this, then read Heart of Darkness again, it may not make it easier to ...

... came (to my office, this time) while I was out of town... Two from BM: The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai and King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild A book I won from someone's blog: The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber Plus my ER bonus batch book: The 19th Wife ...

... One Hundred Years of Solitude, and The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. (Sadly, the only copy of King Leopold's Ghost had JUST been checked out!) I also grabbed And Then There Were None for some light reading at work. Will I get them all read before they're due? Nobod ...

... Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin - my sister loved this book, I was a bit sceptical of some parts. King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild and most anything from Zed books.

... Fall of Kruger's Republic, J. S. Marais 6-3. With the Old Breed, E. B. Sledge 6-4. King Leopold's Ghost, Adam Hochschild 6-5. The Aquariums of Pyongyang, Kang Chol-Hwan 6-6. Resolute: The Epic Search for the Northwest ...

... Empire 36. American Theocracy 37. Reading Like a Writer 38. It's a Boy: Women Writers on Raising Sons 39. King Leopold's Ghost 40. Down to Earth Sociology 41. Rereading America 42. Educating for Democracy: 43. The Cheating of America 44. No Logo: 45. Branded Nat ...

... High (a long, long time ago). I still get the creeps thinking about it. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild were both very good books, but hard to read because of some of the ...

12. King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild 318 pages *** 1/2 Conquest in the Congo in the early 20th century. Some really horrible stuff in here. This book was interesting, and I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't rushed through it for school. 12/50 (24%) 3810/16000 (23.8%)

12. King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild 318 pages *** 1/2 Conquest in the Congo in the early 20th century. Some really horrible stuff in here. This book was interesting, and I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't rushed through it for school. 12/50 (24%) 3810/16000 (23.8%)

September so far... 25. King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild 26. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler 27. I know my own heart: the diaries of Ann Lister edited by Helena Whitbread 28. The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad 29. Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman Hmmm ...

From King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild: The author in the afterword discusses that his greatest frustration 'lay in how hard it was to portray individual Africans as full-fledged actors in this story' and explains why. But in his explanation I found this: I wrestled with this ...

I'm still reading King Leopolds Ghost by Adam Hochschild - should be finishing it in short order. I'm also reading The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly, the Orange Prize winner for first fiction, for a book group (I have two months to read it), and Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Togeth ...

... I made in the thread title...geesh. Still in the Belgian Congo most recently with Joseph Conrad in Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost - which is nonfiction, of course. I may have to reread Heart of Darkness at some point.

Although I'm not reading fiction, I am reading King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild. It's compelling and quite accessible stuff. I think Henry Morton Stanley (of Stanley and Livingstone) sounds like the James Frey of his time. My studies, although it's just been a month or so, have already ...

... Carter's short novel, Love (I'm not even going to attempt a touchstone for that one!) AND I'm in the Congo with King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild (non-fiction).

... Another disaster book I had previously missed; this one covers the 1942 fire at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston. King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild – I meant to buy this one when it first came out, but it got past me. I prefer hardcover, but they had only paperback, so ...

I would like to point out another well known book that takes place mostly in Upstate. That isGhost Story by Peter Straub which takes place around Binghamton. Does anyone know if he is or has lived the Upstate area? His style reminds me of Stephen King's who certainly write writes about ...