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In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in the by [Wrong, Michela]

In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in the Kindle Edition

by Michela Wrong (Author)

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Known as "the Leopard," the president of Zaire for thirty-two years, Mobutu Sese Seko, showed all the cunning of his namesake -- seducing Western powers, buying up the opposition, and dominating his people with a devastating combination of brutality and charm. While the population was pauperized, he plundered the country's copper and diamond resources, downing pink champagne in his jungle palace like some modern-day reincarnation of Joseph Conrad's crazed station manager.

Michela Wrong, a correspondent who witnessed Mobutu's last days, traces the rise and fall of the idealistic young journalist who became the stereotype of an African despot. Engrossing, highly readable, and as funny as it is tragic, In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz assesses the acts of the villains and the heroes in this fascinating story of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Length: 372 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
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Product details

File Size: 987 KB
Print Length: 372 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins e-books; Reprint edition (October 13, 2009)
Publication Date: October 13, 2009
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B000NJL75U
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

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Not Enabled

Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported

Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #653,686 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #215 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Law > Perspectives on Law > Non-US Legal Systems
- #621 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Africa
- #792 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Africa

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Robert D. King

Congo dissected

March 9, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Superb reporting on the sad history of this most cursed of African countries. Misgoverned as a Belgian colony, misgoverned when independent, rich in resources and possibilities, Congo has no future. Beautifully written, in the end it is "Mistah Kurtz, he dead,,"

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R. Strickler

The bizarre state that was Mobutu's Zaire was also full of real people trying to do their best to live their lives

October 14, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Michela Wrong has an unusual ability to inform and entertain and engender compassion all at the same time. The bizarre state that was Mobutu's Zaire was also full of real people trying to do their best to live their lives. At times very funny and at other times enraging or very sad, this history of the waning years and final collapse of Zaire help to make much clearer the reasons for the civil war and the troubles that followed, and the quirky realities that still live on in the DRC. If you're traveling to DRC, this should be required reading so you understand the context today.

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C. Welch

Interesting

September 23, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I liked this book because I learned a ot about this part of the world that I knew very little of. I actually think Mobuto was a tragi-comic figure who started out with good intentions and wanted the best for his country. He actually turned over power the first time in the early 1960s. He did mismanage the economy badly and administered the country on a basis of full scale corruption and bribery. I think as far as African leaders go, he was not very murderous, which I found surprising. But to leave such a country rich in natural minerals and such potential as he did, is a crime. Overall very interesting and I think I should read more about the Belgian Condo for more background on the subject.

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R. J. Marsella

Post Colonial Despotism Up Close and Personal

November 27, 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Michela Wrong's Book on the Congo/Zaire details in a series of vignettes the entire scope of corruption and violence that plagued this unfortunate country from the colonial period under the Belgians through Mobutu's rise to power and ultimate fall. The observations she made on the ground in Zaire allowed her to include glimpses and portraits of people from all walks of life. Their stories interspersed with the record and the observed activities of Mobutu and his circle of "big vegetables", as the elites came to be called, combine to provide a ground eye view of the effects of total government corruption on a population. Wrong was able to report the intersection of the public and personal to an astonishing degree and her book is direct and pulls no punches. While Mobutu and his "kelptocracy" is clearly the focus , the reasons why a society was vulnerable to such brazen mismanagement and the aftermath of his despotism are also explored. This is a very good fundamental book on the period that will leave the reader aghast at the abuses of government in a significantly sized nation in central Africa.

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Matthew P. Arsenault

Mobutu at the Heart of Zaire's Darkness

January 6, 2005

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Throughout history, Africa has claimed the moniker of the Dark Continent, originally due to its mysteriousness, wildness, and danger. However, there is a new darkness that has overtaken modern Africa, a darkness that plagues the content. This darkness is composed of governmental corruption, violent coups, genocide, ethnic cleansing, guerilla warfare and other forms of exploitation and violence.

One of the most blatant examples of this impinging darkness was the rule Zaire's President Mobutu. His insatiable thirst for cruelty brought Zaire, a nation with massive potential for wealth and prosperity, to its knees and subsequently destroyed the will of his own proud people.

Michaela Wrong follows the rise of Mobutu, the once obscure military aide, and chronicles his nearly instinctual political maneuvers which finally consolidated his grip on the throat of Zaire. Wrong also illustrates the effects of Mobutu's "kleptocracy" which essentially bled the nation and its people dry of any wealth, and economic potential.

Apart from bankrupting a nation, perhaps the saddest result of Mobutu's reign was destruction of a nation's will. The people of Zaire not only grew disillusioned with Mobutu's leadership, but became disillusioned with the hope of betterment. In the minds of many of those living in Zaire under Mobutu, the thought of struggling everyday to eek out a living seemed pointless. At the end of that day, the Mobutu government would come and reap all that was so painfully sown.

The title of book is In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz, named after the power hungry character in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Wrong does draw vague parallels between the two. Still, the parallels do lend an interesting twist to the work. Both Mobutu and Kurtz were corrupted by power and the vast wealth hidden in the darkest Africa, and once they tasted those sweet riches, their appetites became insatiable and cost Africa dearly.

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World traveler

Mr. Kurtz never had it so good.

July 11, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The conclusion may surprise you; it did me and I am fairly well read on the Zaire/DRC. Ms. Wrong takes the reader through the history of Mabutu; his rise to power and how he deftly maintained a delicate balance-dealing with matters at home and the very interested parties outside the country. An African Machiavelli personified. It is a history of the country as evidences by a portrait of the president. One read to give favorable consideration.

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Djay Mso

Awesome!!!

November 26, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Hard to put this book down. Well written, well researched too. Love it. I would recommend Ms Wrong’s books any day.

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matius

Vivid narration and getting the facts right, a journey in the footsteps of corruption, hubris and decay.

December 16, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I had to read a chapter of this book for an assignment on development studies and ended up going from cover to cover. The author has been there and writes very well, with enough sense of humor that you are enjoying the ride while she tells a very detailed and colorful story of one of the best (worst) examples of corruption, hubris and decay of recent times. She's got the facts right and is not judgmental. Once more I am convinced that reality trumps fiction every time.

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Most recent customer reviews

Amazon Customer

Four Stars

Very well written and eye opening revaluations.

Published 9 months ago

Very good if depressing read on the DRC / Zaire and reign of Mobuto Sese Seko--Lion of Africa

Published 1 year ago

Michael E Sweeney

Several missing pieces from the story but some pieces I didn't know

Good reading, pieces of the Congo story I didn't know. Apparently the book came out (and the other reviews were written) before the documentary came out:...Read more

Published on December 1, 2015

laura mardon

What a great read!

Fantastic book, I throughly enjoyed it - so well written that I devoured it in just 4 days!

Published on July 17, 2015

kate chorba

Four Stars

Good

Published on November 13, 2014

Handukani L Moyo

Gripping in its detail

A fascinating look at a big country and a big man, neither of whom are well understood. Well worth the read!

Published on June 8, 2014

eddie ozols

Great Book - You will never eat Belgium Chocolates again after reading this book

Outstanding history of the Congo.
Not for the fainthearted as it describes in detail, Belgium's genocide in the Congo, its enslavement of the people and the ugliness of a...Read more

Published on April 1, 2014

George

hilarious and worrying

A great read. I have visited various locations in DRC and know other African countries and loved the way the country is depicted. The story is rich with information

Published on March 7, 2014

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