Category Archives: history

Another view at history and the present

Early this year I read Frankopan’s Silk Road. The book tries to give a different view of world history with a focus on Asia, in particular central Asia. I liked the book, especially as I was interested in the history of Central Asia since I was about 10 years old.

I think even for a history buff the book contains a lot of fascinating details, from details about slavery in Europe to the way the Vikings did trade across Eurasia to the Sogdians.

There were a couple of points I found weak:

1- some of the regions or countries Frankopan sees as emerging might have been “emerging” mostly because they have been oil and gas exporting countries and we know the times of oil and gas might have already be over. His view on development in Russia and the countries of the Middle East is a bit too optimistic.

2- although Frankopan does well in indicating how many times the West plundered other regions he does not seem to be judging the same kind of processes when they were carried out by the others.

I am still waiting for a book that is going to cover in a more comprehensible way the expansion of China.

Still, the book is a good start for talking about the East, especially now in the times of the coronavirus, when China is booming and Europe and North America are even more dependent on everything coming from there.

Congo revisited

I finished reading David van Reybrouck’s “Congo, een Geschiedenis”. in English Congo, the title is the Epic History of a People. The book is a wonderful work even though it also became a very tough journey through a country we often forget about.

Children in Congo (Wikipedia)

Stylistically the book is a treasure trove. Van Reybrouck’s vocabulary is exquisite, his images powerful. I read the book in the Dutch original but according to several articles, the translations into French, English and German are excellent.

The story starts from prehistory, which in the case of Congo means up to the arrival of Europeans. That part is rather short but that is understandable as basically we still know very little about the country’s most distant past. Things start to become more detailed with Stanley’s arrival to the region. Van Reybrouck lets lots of people, mostly Congolese, do the talking. One of the things I got a better view of was the independence period. Another one was the evolution of Mobutu’s regime. Even though I have read here and there about the Chinese involvement in Congo, the details one finds in this book are also fascinating.

There was some discussion – or criticism – on the book’s historical rigurosity. You can read a bit of that in the Flemish Knack (Dutch). It is a pity I haven’t seen a clear stance from Reybrouck on this topic, perhaps even a desire to review certain parts. Still, the 680 pages were worth the time.