« “I will give them my Congo,” Leopold declared to Stinglhamber, “but they have no right to know what I did there -down. »1 The Ghost of King Leopold is a historical analysis by Berkley professor Adam Hochschild of Belgian King Leopold II's orchestration of a private empire in the Congo in the late 19th century. At this particular time in history, the major political powers of the world have their eyes on Africa as a prospect for exploration, annexation and exploitation. In The Ghost of King Leopold, Hochschild recounts the great human cost of Belgium's imperial effort and the world's desire to turn a blind eye to the blatant terrorization of a people. This book is an account of the atrocities that took place in the Congo at the behest of King Leopold II, why they happened, why they did not stop and, above all, why no one remembers what happened to these unfortunate people of the Congo. result of imperialism and globalization. Hochschild begins this tale with the extraordinary geographical efforts of those men to whom the world credits the discovery and mapping of the African continent: Diogo Cao, Captain Tuckey, David Livingstone, Lieutenant Cameron, and Henry Morton Stanley. It was thanks to Leopold's courting of Stanley that the Congo was trapped in the clutches of the Belgian king. On Leopold's behalf, Stanley surveyed the Congo region, made treaties with the natives ceding their lands to Leopold, and worked to establish an efficient mode of transportation through its dense jungles. Hochschild reveals Leopold to be a skillful and cunning businessman, tricking the world into accepting the many fronts of his Congo operations and accepting his position as sole ruler. Using his inadvertence...... middle of paper ...... The Ghost of King Leopold, my understanding of African history, the Rubber Terror and the Scramble for Africa was fragile at best. By its conclusion, my view of world history, particularly the effects of imperialism, was greatly expanded. I found this exposition to be one of the most compelling works of the century and would happily recommend it to anyone interested in the truth about the world's forgotten past. Works Cited Notes1 Hochschild, Adam. The Ghost of King Leopold: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. 2942 Hochschild. The Ghost of King Leopold, 2593 "AC Reviews > The Ghost of King Leopold: A story of greed, terror and heroism in colonial Africa." Happy reading. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/478211737?book_show_action=true&page=1 (accessed February 15, 2014).4 Hochschild. The ghost of King Leopold, 33