Customer Reviews

Patrice Lumumba: Africa's Lost Leader (Life&Times)

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Lumumba was a great leader who emerged in the aftermath of the decolonization of Africa and a self-made man, an especially difficult proposition in the Belgian Congo. The author packs a lot in this short book, looking at Patrice Lumumba's early life, his political aspirations and eventual downfall. This book draws the reader in, makes them interested in the story and is generally enjoyable. The book has red text for sidebars and prompts at the bottom of each page, which I personally found to be a very helpful feature.

The one flaw I found in this book was, in his discussion of Lumumba's image after his death, that he completely neglects to mention the role of the Lumumba cult in the Simba uprising. Several people were murdered at the Lumumba Memorial in Stanleyville and a few others narrowly avoided this fate. As long as we're talking about Lumumba's impact on the Congo, shouldn't that have been included?

Even if you're not that interested in African history this is still a great book.

The book describes the dynamic Patrice Lumumba, who had such high hopes for the Congo and an excellent plan for its independence. Yet,
as detailed throughout book, interest around the world had other plans. Moreover, the author describes the motivation of the Western world
not to support Lumumuba's design for the development of Congo, they did not want threaten business inthe region. As a result, in 1960 the country almost disintegrated into civil war. More than that, the book displays how the lack of emphasize on the development of the Congo during its first year of colonial rule has served as the origin of strife in the country in the 21 Century.