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King Leopold's Ghost
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Plot Summary of King Leopold's Ghost
"Early in the imperial colonial period slavery was the chief reason for exploiting central Africa. King Leopold of Belgium ruthlessly but brilliantly exploited much of central Africa in the 19th century without regard for human suffering. When slavery became politically obsolete, ivory and later natural rubber was exploited using slave labor, blackmail, kidnapping, you name it. King Leopold personally benefited from this exploitation of the peoples and the environment. He managed to do so without raising concerns about the illegalities or moralities of his time. To this day much of what is in this book has been ignored by history."
Mark, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of King Leopold's Ghost
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Kind Of History
Time of history: - Early 1900's - 19th century
History of disaster/tragedy? Yes
Kind of disaster: - Slavery
History of a people? Yes
Nationality? - Africa

Subjects of this Historical Account
Religion? (if plays a major part) - Catholics!
Ethnicity (if plays a major part) - Black
Is the portrayal sympathetic? - Sympathetic
From a certain profession/group? - Nobility/Royalty
Intelligence of subject of history: - Smart

Main Adversary
From a certain profession/group? - Prince/Nobleman/King
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a substantial amount
Religion? (if plays a major part) - Catholics!
Ethnicity? (if plays big part) - White/European
Is the portrayal sympathetic? - Unsympathetic

Setting
Africa Yes
Part of Africa: - Arabic Africa - Black Africa
If applicable, liberal/conservative? - Historian is moderately liberal

Style
How much gore? - 10 ()
How fast-paced is the book? - 9 ()
Accounts of torture and death? - very explicit references to deaths and torture
Book makes you feel... - thoughtful
How much focus on stories of individuals? - Focuses mostly on history of key players
Pictures/Illustrations? - A handful
Length of book - 350-400 pages
How much emphasis on small details? - 9 ()
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