Past
Congo: een geschiedenis (Congo: A History)
David Van Reybrouck
(De Bezige Bij 2010)

With chapters dedicated to each major period of the Congo's history since 1870, this weighty tome (it runs to just under 700 pages) looks like the ultimate historical reference book. But the eye-catching cover of David Van Reybrouck's magnum opus is some indication that this is much more than a detailed account of the nation's colonial and postcolonial days.

Over a period of several years, the Flemish writer conducted hundreds of interviews with Congolese, including child soldiers, smugglers and rebel leaders, weaving in their version of a history that has been typically told from the perspective of Westerners. Although predominantly an academic, Van Reybrouck's flair for telling a story (he is also a contributor to Flemish daily De Morgen) keeps the reader hooked and ensures that a potentially hefty read remains on the light (yet highly informative) side. Much to Van Reybrouck’s surprise, the book has become Flanders’ number one bestseller and has been called in the press “the new standard for anyone interested in the ex-Belgian colony”.

Present
De ontdekking van Congo (The Discovery of Congo)
Rudi Vranckx
(Meulenhoff/Manteau 2010)

Veteran hack Rudi Vranckx spent a year travelling the breadth of the Congo. Through detailed observations and interviews, he whisks readers to the colourful, bustling and harsh life of modern-day Congo, giving a flavour of everything from the role of witchcraft in society to the importance of mining. Posing tough questions along the way about Belgium's role in colonial Congo and its perceptions of the Congolese, this is Belgian soul-searching in action.

Vranckx includes beautiful sketches by Congolese artists of the local surroundings, but these would have been better printed on plates, giving them the higher impact they deserve. The book is accessible but probably more enjoyable for someone with some prior understanding of the Congo's history.

Future
Futur simple: de kinderen van de Congo (Future Simple: The Children of the Congo)
Koen Vidal & Stephan Vanfleteren
(Meulenhoff/Manteau 2010)

"Thirty-three million of the 60 million Congolese are younger than 18." That is the premise of this book in which, in their own words, several youngsters tell their life story. Among them is former child soldier Arnold Arganze's stark and haunting account of his capture, atrocities he was forced to be part of, and escape. Congo taekwondo champion Linda Kilumba's story is more hopeful, and yet, despite qualifying, she was denied her place in the Beijing Olympics by the Congolese authorities, who are suspected of having sent their favourite – rather than their best – athletes.

The authors, Flemish political journalist Koen Vidal and photographer Stephan Vanfleteren, also look at the early days of Congo children's lives, interviewing a feisty midwife who yells at young, single mothers, asking them how they, practically children themselves, will give their babies a good start in life. This is a pertinent question in a country where one in five children dies before the fifth birthday. Futur simple is an easy yet compelling and at times disturbing read with Vanfleteren’s trademark blackand- white portraiture throughout.

Over to English
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa
Adam Hochschild
(Mariner Books 1998)

This gripping and graphic account of the horrors of King Leopold II's regime of forced labour in the Congo Free State (1885-1908) exposed in an accessible way the brutality of Belgium's colonial past to a wider, not to mention international, public. Although heavily criticised by academics at the time – notably regarding his estimation of the number of Congolese who died at the hands of the free state (there was no population census back then) – that should not deter anyone from reading this portrayal of a murderous regime from this author-cum-journalist-cum historian, who knows how to keep his reader hooked.

Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart
Tim Butcher
(Vintage Books 2007)

Daily Telegraph journalist Tim Butcher retraces the footsteps of 19th-century explorer Henry Morton Stanley, who worked for the same newspaper. Travelling the entire length of the 4,700-kilometre River Congo, Butcher’s journey takes him through the dangerous east where militia are still roaming, on a motorbike with Georges the pygmy, in a pirogue, a river boat and finally a helicopter. His book focuses on the people he meets, without indulging in tales of journalistic heroics, despite the harsh and extraordinary feat. Among the many poignant moments is the tale of a Belgian missionary who narrowly missed death at the hands of rebels, a village where Butcher finds an older generation who remember technologies youngsters have never seen, and a fisherman who begs Butcher to take his son and give him a new life in the developed world.