In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Michela Wrong
- First Published: 2000
- Type of Work: Biography and history
- Time of Work: 1960-1997
- Setting: Zaire (Congo)
- Principal Characters: Joseph Désiré Mobutu, Larry Devlin, Henry Morton Stanley
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography
- Subjects: Dictators, History, 1960’s, 1970’s, Africa or Africans, Twentieth century, 1980’s, 1990’s, Heads of state
- Locales: Zaire
Michela Wrong begins her story at the end, with a vivid account of the confusion in Kinshasa in May, 1997, when everyone in Zaire was waiting for the departure of the ailing president, Joseph Désiré Mobutu, and the accession of the rebel leader Laurent Kabila. Kinshasa, formerly Leopoldville, named after the brutal colonial exploiter King Leopold II of Belgium, was in a crisis state, with foreign journalists waiting it out at their favorite watering hole, the Intercontinental Hotel. By the end of the month, the rebels had marched into the city, Kabila had established his headquarters...
[The entire page is 1963 words long]
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