Helen Winternitz, an American journalist, and her companion, journalist Timothy Phelps, traveled the Congo River by riverboat from Kinshasa to the Ituri rainforest, where they struck out overland to Goma, a journey fraught with adventure.

This is much more than an adventure tale, though. Along the way, she lays bare the ugly, unvarnished history of the region, and how Western influence has shaped the political structure from the 18th Century into the late 20th Century, when she traveled the region, and even into today.

I found this a very difficult, but very important book to read. ( )

The book gives the reader an inkling of what it was like for people to live under the Mobutu dictatorship in the Congo. Everything requires a bribe, everyone is compromised in corruption, everything breaks down, on top of the fact that it's always SO hot. The reader will pick up a little history while reading it. I would recommend this book as an introduction to the Congo or for anyone looking for a solid travelogue. ( )