Tuesday, September 15, 2026

WILL TANNER: The Congo reverted to cannibalism and warlords after the Belgians left

Some people might view “King Hochschild’s Hoax,” as we might call it, as an empowering fable for modern Africans at the expense of the white man. 

Congolese lawyer Marcel Yabili calls it “the greatest falsification in modern history,” a compliment of sorts, I suppose. --Bruce Gilley

The African Congo is primarily made up of two countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of the Congo. The DRC is the larger of the two, while the Republic of the Congo is located to the west of the DRC. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, written in 1899, Seems like most of the information on King Leopold's colony in the Congo is driven by anti-Colonialists and Marxists.

"King Hochschild's Hoax: An absurdly deceptive on Congolese rubber production is better described as historical fiction," Bruce Gilley, The American Conservative, April 17, 2023. 

King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa, Adam Hochschild, 1999.

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