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Congo

Год написания книги
2019
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Congo
David van Reybrouck

FINALIST FOR THE CUNDILL PRIZE FOR HISTORY‘Not only deserves the description “epic”, in its true sense, but the term “masterpiece” as well’ IndependentThis gripping epic tells the story of one of the world’s most critical failed nation-states: the Democratic Republic of Congo. Interweaving his own family’s history with the voices of a diverse range of individuals – charismatic dictators, feuding warlords, child soldiers, and many in the African diaspora of Europe and China – Van Reybrouck offers a deeply humane approach to political history, focusing squarely on the Congolese perspective and returning a nation’s history to its people.

Copyright (#u4f0c6662-e657-5e1c-b314-9f694a6a7e09)

Fourth Estate

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

4thestate.co.uk (http://www.4thestate.co.uk)

This Fourth Estate paperback edition published in 2015

First published in Great Britain by Fourth Estate in 2014

First published as Congo: Een Geschiedenis by De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, in 2010

Copyright © David Van Reybrouck 2014

Translation copyright © Sam Garrett 2014

Page design by Suet Yee Chong

Maps by Jan de Jong

The translation of this book is funded by the Flemish Literature Fund

(Vlaams Fonds voor de Letteren, www.flemishliterature.be (http://www.flemishliterature.be)).

The right of David Van Reybrouck to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007562930

Ebook Edition © 2015 ISBN: 9780007562923

Version: 2015-02-16

From the reviews of Congo: (#u4f0c6662-e657-5e1c-b314-9f694a6a7e09)

‘[Congo] possesses the economy and deftness of the best short stories and avoids the bloat of your average history book … The research, the devotion, the inventiveness in Van Reybrouck’s writing are a gift to everyone, not just fans of African history. This book not only deserves the description “epic”, in its true sense, but the term “masterpiece” as well.’

Independent

‘The general critical consensus on the book is that it “reads like a novel” while being “as rigorous as an academic history” … Van Reybrouck brings this excessive history vividly to life … a book as rich and resourceful as Congo itself.’

Guardian

‘What I hadn’t realised was that David Van Reybrouck, who spent a decade on this extraordinary work, is not primarily a historian. He is a playwright, poet and novelist and, if this translation by Sam Garrett is anything to go by, has a beautiful feel for the language … His eye for the arresting human detail, combined with a wry appreciation for a peculiarly Congolese form of gumption, keeps you powering through this panoramic survey of 150 turbulent years.’

Spectator

‘[Van Reybrouck] draws vividly on interviews with musicians, former child soldiers, political activists and people old enough to remember the days of the Belgian Congo … a wrenching account.’

London Review of Books

‘This is a magnificent account, intimately researched, and relevant for anyone interested in how the recent past may inform our near future … Van Reybrouck offers one of the most extraordinary African stories I have come across in recent years.’

New York Times Book Review

‘A vivid panorama of one of the most tormented lands in the world … His book is a valuable addition to the rich literature that Congo has inspired.’

Washington Post

‘Congo is the best book I have read on its subject. It is not history in the conventional sense, but it is a beautifully written and scholarly account that explains why so many outsiders have found the country both horrifying and irresistible.’

Literary Review

‘[A] detailed and well-researched biography, thoroughly rooted in the lived experience of the Congolese … It is clear that the author is not your typical historian dryly publishing his findings, but a literary artist with a pen almost as sharp as Lumumba’s tongue.’

ThinkAfricaPress.com (http://www.ThinkAfricaPress.com)

‘A well-documented and passionate narrative which reads like a novel … As an eye, a judge, and a witness, a talented writer testifies.’

V.Y.M. MUDIMBE, author of The Invention of Africa

‘The English-speaking world has been impatiently awaiting this translation. Congo is a remarkable piece of work. Van Reybrouck pulls off the tricky feat of keeping a panoramic history of a vast and complex nation accessible, intimate and particular.’

MICHELA WRONG, author of In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz

‘A monumental history … more exciting than any novel.’

NRC Handelsblad

Dedication (#u4f0c6662-e657-5e1c-b314-9f694a6a7e09)

À la mémoire d’Étienne Nkasi (1882?–2010), en reconnaissance profonde de son témoignage exceptionnel et de la poignée de bananes, qu’il m’a offerte lors de notre première rencontre.

Et pour le petit David, né en 2008, fils de Ruffin Luliba, enfantsoldat démobilisé, et de son épouse Laura, qui ont bien voulu donner mon nom à leur premier enfant.

(To the memory of Étienne Nkasi [1882?–2010], deeply grateful for his exceptional testimony and for the handful of bananas that he offered me when we first met.
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