Summary of Tim Butcher's Blood River

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 I was reading about Africa’s history when I came across the Congo, and what I read shocked me. I had always thought of Africa as a continent with a lot of different countries, but I realized that they all share the same problems: stasis, or stagnation.
#2 The Congo was the site of the world’s bloodiest war in the 21st century, but the loss of life there hardly made a dent in the outside world. The Congo had come to be seen as a lost cause, and the costliest conflict since the Second World War passed largely unnoticed.
#3 The Congo River was mapped by Stanley in 1878, and it changed history more dramatically than anything the newspaper had ever been involved with. It marked the start of the modern history of Africa, as European powers began claiming Africa's interior.
#4 I wanted to go back to where it all began, following Stanley’s original journey of discovery through the Congo. The historical symmetry of working for the same newspaper as Stanley was appealing, but this alone was not enough. I wanted to do something more complete.

Sujets

• África
• Travel
• Central
• Africa

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 29 mai 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669395911
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Tim Butcher's Blood River
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6 Insights from Chapter 7 Insights from Chapter 8 Insights from Chapter 9 Insights from Chapter 10 Insights from Chapter 11 Insights from Chapter 12
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I was reading about Africa’s history when I came across the Congo, and what I read shocked me. I had always thought of Africa as a continent with a lot of different countries, but I realized that they all share the same problems: stasis, or stagnation.

#2

The Congo was the site of the world’s bloodiest war in the 21st century, but the loss of life there hardly made a dent in the outside world. The Congo had come to be seen as a lost cause, and the costliest conflict since the Second World War passed largely unnoticed.

#3

The Congo River was mapped by Stanley in 1878, and it changed history more dramatically than anything the newspaper had ever been involved with. It marked the start of the modern history of Africa, as European powers began claiming Africa's interior.

#4

I wanted to go back to where it all began, following Stanley’s original journey of discovery through the Congo. The historical symmetry of working for the same newspaper as Stanley was appealing, but this alone was not enough. I wanted to do something more complete.

#5

The Congo was a rich travel adventure for my mother and a close school friend in 1958. They were nearing the end of their journey when they entered the Congo. The country was integrated with the rest of Africa and the rest of the world.

#6

My mother, who was a child during the time she traveled through the Congo, remembered the country as being very normal. She knew nothing about the brutality the Belgians used to maintain their rule, or the turbulent currents that were drawing the Congo towards independence.

#7

The Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly known as the Congo, was ruled by Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko from 1965 until 1997. He was a friend of the Hutus in Rwanda, and his relationship with them paved the way for the Rwandan genocide.

#8

The country was split in many parts after the Congo Wars, with the government barely controlling the capital. Mr Bomboko explained that the country was still split in many parts, and that the government barely controlled the capital.

#9

I was terrified to fly to the Congo. I had been there only a few months earlier, and the airport security official had seen my Ugandan visa. He started whispering to his boss, who said espion, spy. I was terrified.

#10

The Congo has few rivals for corruption. I was there in 2001, and even though the country was in crisis, no one could explain who killed Kabila or what it meant for the Congo.

#11

I had to meet some of the rebel leaders in the Congo, and Adolphe Onusumba was the leader of the main rebel group based in Goma. He sounded frantic, and told me that the town of Goma was being consumed by the volcano. I had to come quickly and tell the world about it.

#12

I visited Goma in 1994 to cover the eruption. The town was built on the shore of Lake Kivu, and the lava flow passed through the remains of some of its grandest lakeside villas. Dieudonne Wafula, the Congo’s sole volcanologist, had written a letter several months earlier predicting the eruption.

#13

I spent years researching the Congo, and eventually decided to cross it. The toad was the Congo, and wherever I went, it was there, working away at me. I visited white-supremacist websites, hoping I would find a racist missionary who could help me navigate the back roads of eastern Congo.

#14

I was not the first person to attempt to travel through the Congo. In the 1960s, an American television journalist tried an identical crossing, but was blocked by war, rebellion, and logistical problems.

#15

Mining might convey the image of industry or technology, but in the Congo, it involved brutally primitive slave labor clawing minerals from the earth so that they could be shipped to eager cash buyers in the developed world.

#16

I had to travel overland through the dangerous eastern sector of the Congo to reach Lake Tanganyika, and then follow Stanley’s route downstream. I knew the river descent would be difficult, but the most dangerous part was this overland section.

#17

I had done everything I could to gather information and advice about crossing the Congo. In 2004, I booked a flight from Johannesburg to the Congo, wrote my first will, and kissed Jane goodbye.
Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The Congo River was discovered in 1482 by Diogo Cao, a Portuguese mariner. The river is the largest in Africa, and its outflow is so strong that it has carved a submarine canyon 1,000 meters deep.

#2

The padrao was not a moment of colonisation or acquisition. Cao pushed on a short distance up the river, before turning north again and heading back to China. He was disappointed to find that his four crew members had not learned anything from the tribesmen.

#3

The first Congolese to visit Portugal were ambassadors sent by King John II of the Congo in 1484. They were treated well, and the king allowed them to leave with four new ambassadors of their own.

#4

The Kingdom of the Congo was the first African kingdom below the Equator to be visited by the white man, and the Portuguese believed it to be the most significant discovery anywhere in the world.

#5

The Congo’s status as Portugal’s greatest discovery did not last long. Within a decade of Cao reaching the Congo River, another Portuguese mariner, Bartolomeu Dias, went even further south to discover the first sea route from Europe to the Indies by rounding the heel of Africa.