The historical book The Ghost of King Leopold written by Adam Hochschild is well known for depicting the horrific atrocities perpetrated by King Leopold II. He enslaved the Congolese in order to import rubber, ivory and other valuable goods. Slaves were mistreated or killed, while others died of foreign diseases. As the Congolese population collapsed, King Leopold's fortunes increased incredibly. During his reign, millions of Congolese died. However, there were also people who strongly opposed King Leopold's actions. Several activists exposed his cruelty to the public. Among them, one was the journalist Edmund Dene Morel. Desperately trying to provide for his family, he began working for Elder Dempster, a shipping company in Liverpool. Upon discovering Leopold's sins, he became determined to obtain more information about conditions in the Congo. He created his own publication, the "West AfricanMail", despite losing his job. Having his own publication, he was able to reveal Leopold's sins to the public. Years later, he began a collaboration with Roger Casement. Casement was appointed by Leopold to work for Brother Dempster, where he discovered the brutality occurring in the Congo. Casement and Morel collaborated and their Congo reform movement was successful. However, Casement was soon executed for treason. A year later, Morel was also imprisoned. Due to the poor conditions of detention in prison, he developed several health risks. Despite heart complications, he died peacefully. One interesting story I discovered was about a sixteen year old girl named Caroline. She was the mistress of Antoine-Emmanuel Durrieux, but she left him for Léopold. At the time, Leopold was sixty-five years old...... middle of paper...... woe to Caroline. However, after Léopold's death, Caroline married Antoine-Emmanuel Durrieux, her former love. King Leopold's Ghost seemed much more interesting to me than the other books, which is why I chose it. The cover wasn't a boring picture of a soldier or the ocean, and the name was also very interesting. Unlike the other books, this one had a unique title. The “Ghost” in the title made me wonder why it was called that. Since I wanted to know more, I chose this book for my report. The Ghost of King Leopold is well written, with no details left out. I admired how the author was so precise in every detail, capturing every event precisely. Works Cited __________________Hochschild, Adam. The Ghost of King Leopold: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa. United States: Mariner Books, 1998