The Congo: From Leopold to Kabila: A People's History FROM THE PUBLISHER
As this book shows, the People of the Congo have suffered throughout the past century from a particularly brutal experience of colonial rule, and a series of post-independence political conflicts. But as this insightful political history of the Congolese democratic movement of the 20th century decisively makes clear, its people have not taken these multiple oppressions lying down. Instead, they have struggled both to establish democratic institutions at home and to free themselves from exploitations abroad.
FROM THE CRITICS
Foreign Affairs
Authoritative books in English on the Congo are scarce, so this work by a leading Congolese academic is welcome. After reviewing the colonial period, the turbulent independence era, and Mobutu Sese Seko's long years of misrule, Nzongola-Ntalaja focuses on the emergence of opposition groups in the 1980s that led to prodemocracy momentum in the 1990s. Under pressure to curb kleptocratic excesses, Mobutu permitted in 1991 the brief installation of his chief rival, Etienne Tshisekedi, as prime minister, and he allowed the convening of a Sovereign National Conference (CNS) to discuss the country's future. Within a year, however, the CNS folded, and Mobutu aborted an election that would have put Tshisekedi firmly in control. When Kinshasa fell to foreign-backed rebels in 1997, hopes for a better political future rose, only to be dashed again. The Congolese people yearn for accountable government, says the author, who was a prominent participant in the CNS, but they lack the material and organizational resources to prevail against venal leaders and rapacious foreign governments to whom Congo is still one of the most tempting slices of the "African cake."
Booknews
Criticizing the international community's seeming rejection of change in Africa through democratic means, as opposed to by strong-arm political leaders, professor and democracy activist Nzongola-Ntalaja outlines the history of the democracy movement in the Congo. Deeply critical of the Belgian imperialists, Mobutu and his supporters, as well as the Kabila regime that overthrew Mobutu, he connects the struggle for democracy to the Western corporations that oppose it and to local corrupt elites. Distributed by Palgrave. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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