Library

In the 1880s, as European powers carved up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized the vast land around the Congo River. He carried out genocidal plunder and oppression in the Congo. At the same time, he established himself as a great humanitarian. Hochschild used a large number of original sources when writing this book: memoirs of explorers, steamship captains and soldiers, missionary records, government investigation reports, etc. Although few African voices appear in the book, as the author puts it, "their activities and voices can still be seen and heard, although filtered by the records of their conquerors."

For three crucial years in the 1930s, the Spanish Civil War dominated the front pages of newspapers in the United States and around the world, and international volunteers flocked to Spain to help its democratic government fight a right-wing coup initiated by Francisco Franco and assisted by Hitler and Mussolini. This was an extremely brutal war that can be regarded to a large extent as the opening battle of World War II, but it was quickly overshadowed by the latter. The author of this book, Adam Hochschild, presents many important figures in the Spanish Civil War, including Hemingway and Orwell, and weaves their fascinating stories together to fully reveal the tragedy and importance of this war.