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<rsmith@wittenberg.edu> Finding books that are neither in French nor out-of-print may be difficult, but here are a few ideas. My favorite Congolese writer is V.Y. Mudimbe. His novels do not cover the Leopold era (l885-l908), but his finest in my opinion is Between Tides. I have only the French original, Entre les eaux (Paris: Presence Africaine, l973). He has written several other novels, and numerous non-fictional works, some of which I mentioned on this H-net under the Mudimbe thread. Emmanuel Dongala's The Fire of Origins (Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 200l) does cover the earlier period among others. An autobiography by a Congolese woman (and NOT a missionary story, in spite of the title) is Suruba Ibumando Georgette Weschler's By the Grace of God: A Tale of Love, War and Survival from the Congo (Far Hills, NJ: New Horizon Press, l999). This gives fascinating insights into the life and thoughts of the author, and covers the period l952-l997. I think American students might find this the most approachable book by a Congolese. A fine presentation of the continuities of colonial exploitation is Osumaka Likaka's Rural Society and Cotton in Colonial Zaire (Madison: U. of Wisconsin P., l997). This was the Belgian Congo period (l908-l960), but unfortunately coercive production for foreigners continued, as the author so competently and eloquently describes. For "foreigners", you might try Mark Twain, King Leopold's Soliloquy (Berlin: Seven Seas Publishers, l96l). A. Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame was also incensed by what he learned about the Congo atrocities, and wrote a book about it. A general history of the period in English is Ruth Slade's King Leopold's Congo (NY: Oxford U.P., l962). More recent books on certain regions of the Congo are David Northrup's Beyond the Bend in the River: African Labor in Eastern Zaire, l865-l940 (Athens: Ohio U.P., l988) and Samuel H. Nelson's Colonialism in the Congo Basin, l880-l940 (Athens: Ohio U.P., l994). The principal source of evidence against the Leopoldian regime was Protestant missionaries, and Stanley Shaloff's Reform in Leopold's Congo (Richmond, VA: John Knox Press, l970) is easy reading and includes the fascinating story of Morrison and the African American Sheppard who were taken to court for having denounced the Kasai Company. A new biography of Sheppard has just been published. These were Presbyterians in the Kasai. David Lagergren Mission and State in the Congo: A study of the relations between Protestant missions and the Congo Independent State authorities with special reference to the Equator District, l885-l903 (Uppsala, Almquist & Wiksells, l970) involves the northwest part of the country. A very readable and fairly accurate book about the Mobutu era of Independent Congo (independent in l960) is Michela Wrong's In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo (NY: HarperCollins, 2000), linking with another foreign writer of the Leopoldian era (you know whom!).
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