(Congo) Recommended reading

[gnomehome]

I quite enjoyed "The Last Expedition: Stanley's Mad Journey through the Congo" from Daniel Liebowitz.

From the Amazon page

A noble rescue mission descends into a nightmare of cruelty, starvation, and cannibalism, bringing to a close the European exploration of Africa. "Liebowitz and Pearson have written an illuminating saga of the dark days of colonialism."―National Geographic Adventure
Henry Morton Stanley undertook the greatest African expedition of the nineteenth century to rescue Emin Pasha, last lieutenant of the martyred General Gordon and governor of the southern Sudan. Emin had been cut off by an Islamic jihad to the north and was at the mercy of brutal slave traders. Instead of ten months, the trip took three years and cost the lives of thousands of people, as Stanley's column hacked its way across the last great, unexplored territory in Africa.

Stanley's secret agenda was territorial expansion on the model of Leopold's Congo or the British East India Company, and what is revealed so vividly in the diaries of those who accompanied him is the dark underside of both the man and the colonial impulse. The expedition took whatever it wanted from the Africans, and when Africans were killed defending their possessions, they didn't even rate an entry in Stanley's journal.

I also remember Stanley: The Making of an African Explorer by Frank McLynn as being a good read.

The celebrated African explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley was one of the most fascinating of the late-Victorian adventurers. Born into poverty and illegitimacy, he survived a series of incredible adventures at sea and in the U.S., emerging as a talented journalist. His writing led to a commission to find David Livingstone, the greatest single feat in African exploration. Yet behind the public man lay a disturbed personality. As Frank McLynn’s study shows, his foundation of the Congo Free State on behalf of Leopold II of Belgium, as well as the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition were both dubious enterprises that tarnished Stanley’s reputation and revealed his complex—and often troubling—relationship with Africa.


Imperial Footprints: Henry Morton Stanley's African Journeys by JAmes L. Newman

“Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” The man who uttered those famous words was compared with Christopher Columbus in his day and became one of the late nineteenth century’s most newsworthy figures. Yet, one hundred years after Henry Morton Stanley’s death, his accomplishments in Africa have largely receded from public memory or have been discredited as epitomizing the wrongs inflicted by the scourge of European colonialism and its “scramble for Africa.” While numerous writers have attempted to describe the man, sometimes through highly speculative means, our understanding of the most notable aspect of Stanley’s life, his relationship to the continent, isn’t much more advanced than it was one hundred years ago.

To fill this void, James L. Newman re-creates Stanley’s seven epic African journeys, explaining why he made them, what transpired en route, and what resulted. He highlights Stanley’s determination to succeed despite incredible odds and his various relationships with the people who enabled him to accomplish his objectives. And while he acknowledges Stanley’s less admirable traits, such as his penchant for stretching the truth, his capacity to be ruthless, and his tendency to demean others, Newman refuses to engage in facile speculation. Instead, he focuses on the words and deeds of a man who played a major role in shaping today’s Africa.

James L. Newman’s in-depth research, detailed descriptions, and vivid prose make Stanley and Africa both a fascinating read and a notable contribution to the study of Africa, exploration, and the age of empire.

[LCpl McDoom]

If you can find it, look for an RPG called 'Dark Continent: Adventure & Exploration in Darkest Africa' by New Breed publishing, a boxed set of rpg material, but really invaluable information for this sort of gaming.

For info: https://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=332

And a review: https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14004.phtml

(Would love to see this back in print.)

And - if you fancy adding in a little extra 'terror' and altering the setting to the 1920's, this may prove useful too?

http://www.chaosium.com/secrets-of-the-congo-pdf/

[Dr. Moebius]

Peter Forbath "The last Hero"

Great book with lots of adventure.

[joroas]

Howard Whitehouse's Battle in Africa is a great book.

[Bugsda]

"The Discovery of the Nile by Gianni Guadalupi" Excellent book full of colour pics, it cost me 30 odd quid about 20 years ago but you can probably get it cheaper nowadays.
Difficult bed time reading though, it's huge and weighs a ton.

[Geudens]

To view "the bigger picture": "King Leopold's ghost".

[Geudens]

Quite incorrect.  It was annexed by Belgium in 1908, so it absolutely was an official Belgian colony.
Leaving formalities aside, it was founded and ruled be the King of Belgium.  So sorry, it was Belgian.

"CONGO" (the game) is set in the period of the Scramble, so...  it wasn't "Belgian" at all. 

[italwars]

i suggest you this one

https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Congo-Arabs-Classic-Reprint/dp/1332012183

Hinde was a British doctor in Belgian Service..in fact a fighting doctor...it's the story of the Congo Belgian Force Publique campaign to wipe out the Arab slavers armies...many battles, skirmishes (also with few maps) are described in detail...with all the main actors and infos  that could be useful for wargaming Congo...regular askaris, allied tribesmen, slavers, cannibals..ambushes, fortifications, river boats ecc...
a must and the most easily available source in English

[coggon]

i suggest you this one

https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Congo-Arabs-Classic-Reprint/dp/1332012183

Hinde was a British doctor in Belgian Service..in fact a fighting doctor...it's the story of the Congo Belgian Force Publique campaign to wipe out the Arab slavers armies...many battles, skirmishes (also with few maps) are described in detail...with all the main actors and infos  that could be useful for wargaming Congo...regular askaris, allied tribesmen, slavers, cannibals..ambushes, fortifications, river boats ecc...
a must and the most easily available source in English

I would second that-I'm about halfway through it and enjoying it

[Zombie Master]

My pick would be:-

Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart by Tim Butcher, matches the past to the present and is very readable. A modern Journalist retreads Stanleys navigation across Africa.

King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild, excellent history of the Belgium Congo

In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in the Congo by Michela Wrong, brings you up to date with what happened in the Congo once the Belgium's had left.

Scramble for Africa is an excellent single volume but very dense, covering the whole period.

Stanley and Explorers of the Nile by Tim Jeal also worthwhile.



A