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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific reading - excellent history!,
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This review is from: The River Congo: The Discovery, Exploration, and Exploitation of the World's Most Dramatic River (Paperback)
This book is one of the best history lessons of Africa I have ever had. It taught me more about Africa than I would have learned in any one semester course - from the early navigational schools of the Portugese and the inability of early sailing ships to tack and sail south, to Stanley and Livingston (whom I had always thought to be a missionary and not the explorer he is portayed as in this book) and on to Leopold's desire to carve his own little fiefdom, the Belgian Congo, which not even the Belgians wanted. For anyone wanting to educate themselves on the history of Africa this is a must read - educational, erudite, and well written.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very good,
By
This review is from: The River Congo: The Discovery, Exploration, and Exploitation of the World's Most Dramatic River (Paperback)
I really enjoyed this book, which is a very well balanced compendium of history, geography and adventure. Mr. Forbath achieves a perfectly consistent presentation of a complex subject matter that conveys a lot more than just the tale of a river. Mr. Forbath wisely retraces the historical feats back to their very origin in a wider than local perspective which provides the curious reader with sound extra insights of the history of Africa after its 'discovery' by the europeans. Besides, the 'adventure & exploration' side of the book is simply compelling.So, whether you're looking for a historical introduction to Central Africa (not just Congo), or an account of its exploration by the europeans, or both at once, do read this book. Note: The edition in Spanish, which I read, was enhanced by an addendum updating Zaire's recent history since its independence to this day.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The History of a Very Troubled River,
By
This review is from: The River Congo. The discovery, exploration and exploitation of the world's most dramatic river (Hardcover)
"The River Congo: The Discovery, Exploration and Exploitation of the World's Most Dramatic River" by Peter Forbath was intended to follow Alan Moorehead's two excellent books, "The White Nile" and the "Blue Nile." Indeed, Forbath has done an admirable job in this regard. The human association with this river, often witness to horrible blood baths (including those still in progress) is minutely documented here up to the mid 1960s, from the first exploration of the West African coast and the discovery of the mouth of the Congo by the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cao in 1482 to the immediate aftermath to independence- the Simba uprising.
In all, the Congo River (called the Zaire for a time and now renamed the Congo) witnessed some of the bloodiest wars and genocides in recent history. Brought on to a large degree by the early slave trade, later misrule and cruelty under King Leopold (think "Heart of Darkness"), and benign neglect from Belgium after Leopold, the Congo still suffers from man's inhumanity to man to the present day. Yet at the same time the Congo is one of the mightiest of rivers and its basin encompasses some of the most biodiverse regions on earth, aside from the Amazon. Forbath, once a foreign correspondent, has written a classic and definitive history of a great tropical river, whose very name "Congo" evokes a dangerous and exotic imagery. If anyone would like to understand why the Congo has such a dark reputation, this is the book to read.
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