The "Congo Crisis" following independence, including the death of Patrice Lumumba.
The author interweaves his own family's history—his father worked as a railway engineer in the Congo shortly after independence—with the broader national narrative. Chapter Structure Congo: een geschiedenis
It covers the region’s history from prehistory to 2010, with a major focus on the brutal 19th-century colonization by King Leopold II , the subsequent Belgian colonial era, the struggle for independence, and the turbulent rule of Mobutu Sese Seko . The "Congo Crisis" following independence