King Leopold's Ghost — Adam Hochschild

Hochschild's account of the Belgian Congo under Leopold II is both a history of one of the most systematic colonial atrocities in history — rubber quotas enforced by mutilation, a death toll in the millions — and an account of the first major international human rights campaign, which eventually forced the Belgian state to take over Leopold's private empire. The book is meticulous about the evidence and clear about its moral stakes, and it gave the Congo a place in public memory that it had largely been denied for a century.

Winner of the Duff Cooper Prize and the Mark Lynton History Prize. 'One of the most important history books of the twentieth century.' — Chinua Achebe. 'A searing indictment and a riveting narrative. Hochschild has written a book that will not be forgotten.' — New York Times