Adam Hochschild

En el tránsito del siglo xix al xx, cuando las potencias europeas se repartían África, el rey Leopoldo II de Bélgica llevó a cabo un brutal saqueo del territorio que rodeaba el río Congo. Aunque acabo reduciendo en diez millones de personas la poblacion de la zona, consiguio cultivar con astucia su fama de persona muy humanitaria. El fantasma del rey Leopoldo, relato de una riqueza mucho mayor de lo que cualquier novelista podria inventar, es la descripcion horripilante de un megalomaniaco de proporciones monstruosas. Y es tambien el retrato conmovedor de quienes desafiaron a Leopoldo: los dirigentes rebeldes africanos que lucharon a la desesperada y un puñado de valientes misioneros, viajeros y jovenes idealistas que fueron a Africa en busca de trabajo o aventura pero acabaron siendo inesperadamente testigos de un holocausto y participantes en el primer movimiento del siglo xx a favor de los derechos humanos.

Lo que nos atrae de esta Primera Guerra Mundial es la forma en que destruyó para siempre la Europa segura de sí misma y luminosa de húsares y dragones con cascos con plumas y de emperadores que salu

A finales del siglo XIX, cuando las potencias europeas se repartían África a golpe de escuadra, el rey Leopoldo II de Bélgica llevó a cabo un brutal saqueo del territorio que rodeaba el río Congo. Provoco la muerte de diez millones de personas mientras cultivaba, ironicamente, su fama de monarca humanitario. 'El fantasma del rey Leopoldo' es un relato rico y perturbador: es la descripcion de un megalomano de proporciones monstruosas; y es tambien el retrato conmovedor de quienes desafiaron a Leopoldo, los dirigentes rebeldes africanos que lucharon a la desesperada y un puñado de valientes misioneros, viajeros y jovenes idealistas que fueron a Africa en busca de trabajo o aventura y que acabaron siendo testigos de un genocidio.

En el tránsito del siglo XIX al XX, cuando las potencias europeas se repartían África, el rey Leopoldo II de Bélgica llevó a cabo un brutal saqueo del territorio que rodeaba el río Congo. Aunque acabo reduciendo en diez millones de personas la poblacion de la zona, consiguio cultivar con astucia su fama de persona muy humanitaria. El fantasma del rey Leopoldo, relato de una riqueza mucho mayor de lo que cualquier novelista podria inventar, es la descripcion horripilante de un megalomaniaco de proporciones monstruosas. Y es tambien el retrato conmovedor de quienes desafiaron a Leopoldo: los dirigentes rebeldes africanos que lucharon a la desesperada y un puñado de valientes misioneros, viajeros y jovenes idealistas que fueron a Africa en busca de trabajo o aventura pero acabaron siendo inesperadamente testigos de un holocausto y participantes en el primer movimiento del siglo XX a favor de los derechos humanos.

¿Qué motiva a alguien para luchar por un país que no es el suyo? Desde los primeros compases de la Guerra Civil española, esta se convirtió en una cuestión internacional. Hitler y Mussolini enviaron aviones y tropas a los generales golpistas. Millones de personas en todo el mundo sintieron que el fascismo que asolaba Europa debia ser detenido en España. Mas de 35.000 voluntarios de decenas de paises ayudaron a defender la republica española. Hochschild, el aclamado autor de "El fantasma del rey Leopoldo", evoca este periodo tumultuoso a traves de las vidas de los estadounidenses involucrados en la guerra, entre los que se encontraban intelectuales de la talla de Hemingway. Los hombres de mi generacion hemos tenido a España en nuestros corazones, escribia Camus, dando titulo a esta obra.

From the author of the best-selling King Leopolds Ghost, this haunting and deeply honest memoir tells of Adam Hochschilds conflicted relationship with his father, the head of a multinational mining corporation. The author lyrically evokes his privileged childhood on an Adirondack estate, a colorful uncle who was a pioneer aviator and fighter ace, and his first explorations of the larger world he encountered as he came of age in the tumultuous 1960s. But above all this is a story of a father and his only son and of the unexpected peace finally made between them.

In this riveting and suspenseful New York Times best-selling book, Adam Hochschild brings WWI to life as never beforeWorld War I was supposed to be the war to end all wars. Over four long years, nations around the globe were sucked into the tempest, and millions of men died on the battlefields. To this day, the war stands as one of historys most senseless spasms of carnage, defying rational explanation.To End All Wars focuses on the long-ignored moral drama of the wars critics, alongside its generals and heroes. Many of these dissenters were thrown in jail for their opposition to the war, from a future Nobel Prize winner to an editor behind bars who distributed a clandestine newspaper on toilet paper. These critics were sometimes intimately connected to their enemy hawks: one of Britains most prominent women pacifist campaigners had a brother who was commander in chief on the Western Front. Two well-known sisters split so bitterly over the war that they ended up publishing newspapers that attacked each other.Hochschild forces us to confront the big questions: Why did so many nations get so swept up in the violence? Why couldnt cooler heads prevail? And can we ever avoid repeating history?

A riveting and highly readable account of the Congo massacre peopled by callous monarchs corrupt adventurers and a handful of genuine heroes

From the best-selling author of King Leopolds Ghost and Spain in Our Hearts comes the astonishing but forgotten story of an immigrant sweatshop worker who married an heir to a great American fortune and became one of the most charismatic radical leaders of her time.Rose Pastor arrived in New York City in 1903, a Jewish refugee from Russia who had worked in cigar factories since the age of eleven. Two years later, she captured headlines across the globe when she married James Graham Phelps Stokes, scion of one of the legendary 400 families of New York high society.Together, this unusual couple joined the burgeoning Socialist Party and, over the next dozen years, moved among the liveliest group of activists and dreamers this country has ever seen. Their friends and houseguests included Emma Goldman, Big Bill Haywood, Eugene V. Debs, John Reed, Margaret Sanger, Jack London, and W.E.B. Du Bois.Rose stirred audiences to tears and led strikes of restaurant waiters and garment workers. She campaigned alongside the countrys earliest feminists to publicly defy laws against distributing information about birth control, earning her notoriety as one of the dangerous influences of the country from President Woodrow Wilson. But in a way no one foresaw, her too-short life would end in the same abject poverty with which it began.By a master of narrative nonfiction, Rebel Cinderella unearths the rich, overlooked life of a social justice campaigner who was truly ahead of her time.Rebel Cinderella brings to life the passion and paradox of the Progressive Era:An Improbable Marriage: The captivating true story of Rose Pastor, a Jewish immigrant from the Lower East Side, and James Graham Phelps Stokes, the aristocratic scion of one of New Yorks wealthiest families. The Dawn of the Progressive Era: A vivid portrait of early 20th-century America, where the glamour of high society clashed with the revolutionary fervor of socialism, feminism, and the fight for labor rights. A Circle of Radicals: Step into a world of activists and dreamers, where friends and houseguests included legendary figures like Emma Goldman, Margaret Sanger, and Eugene V. Debs. A Forgotten Feminist Icon: Discover the overlooked history of a woman who led strikes, defied birth control laws, and was branded "one of the dangerous influences of the country" by President Woodrow Wilson.

In this brilliant new work of history, Adam Hochschild follows a group of characters connected by blood ties, close friendships or personal enmities and shows how the war exposed the divisions between them. They include the brother and sister whose views on the war could not have been more diametrically opposed he a career soldier, she a committed pacifist; the politician whose job was to send young men who refused conscription to prison, yet whose godson was one of those young men and the suffragette sisters, one of whom passionately supported the war and one of whom was equally passionately opposed to it. Through these divided families, Hochschild paints a vivid picture of Britain poised between the optimism of the Victorian era and the era of Auschwitz and the Gulag a divided country, fractured by the seismic upheaval of the Great War and its aftermath.

Eighteenth-century Britain was the worlds leading centre for the slave trade. Bury the Chains by Adam Hochschild, author of the Duff Cooper prize-winning King Leopolds Ghost, charts the history of the moment everything changed. In 1788, the slave trade flourishing across the British Empire, amassing wealth beyond measure. Bury the Chains is the remarkable story of the men who sought to end slavery and brought the issue to the heart of British political life.Hochschild, lauded for his scholarly prowess and engrossing storytelling, transports us from Londons bustling coffee houses to the West Indies backbreaking sugar plantations. Exploring the roles of key figures in the movement such as John Newton, Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce, Granville Sharp, and former slave Olaudah Equiano, it tells the history of the battle against an era of abhorrent human exploitation, illuminating the inception of the international human rights movement.Bury the Chains, a journey through some of the darkest times in history, compells us to honour the courageous heroes who dared to question, challenge, and ultimately bury the chains of social injustice.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. A sweeping history of the Spanish Civil War, told through a dozen characters, including Hemingway and George Orwell: A tale of idealism, heartbreaking suffering, and a noble cause that failed.For three crucial years in the 1930s, the Spanish Civil War dominated headlines in America and around the world, as volunteers flooded to Spain to help its democratic government fight off a fascist uprising led by Francisco Franco and aided by Hitler and Mussolini.Today were accustomed to remembering the war through Hemingways For Whom the Bell Tolls and Robert Capas photographs. But Adam Hochschild has discovered some less familiar yet far more compelling characters who reveal the full tragedy and importance of the war: a fiery nineteen-year-old Kentucky woman who went to wartime Spain on her honeymoon, a Swarthmore College senior who was the first American casualty in the battle for Madrid, a pair of fiercely partisan, rivalrous New York Times reporters who covered the war from opposites sides, and a swashbuckling Texas oilman with Nazi sympathies who sold Franco almost all his oil at reduced prices, and on credit.It was in many ways the opening battle of World War II, and we still have much to learn from it. Spain in Our Hearts is Adam Hochschild at his very best.With all due respect to Orwell, Spain in Our Hearts should supplant Homage to Catalonia as the best introduction to the conflict written in English. A humane and moving book."New RepublicExcellent and involving . . . What makes [Hochschilds] book so intimate and moving is its human scale. Dwight Garner, New York TimesThis landmark work of narrative nonfiction brings the pivotal conflict to life through the eyes of the men and women who risked everything. Youll discover:The American Volunteers: The idealists, including a Kentucky woman on her honeymoon and a college student who became the first American casualty, who joined the legendary Abraham Lincoln Brigade to fight fascism years before Pearl Harbor. A War of Ideals and Ideology: The gripping accounts of literary giants like Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell on the front lines, and the rival New York Times reporters covering the conflict from opposite sides. The Prelude to WWII: How Hitler and Mussolini used Spain as a testing ground for their armies, and how a Texas oilman with Nazi sympathies secretly fueled Francos war machine. Human-Scale History: A masterfully told account that moves beyond grand strategy to reveal the heartbreaking personal tragedies and profound importance of a noble cause that failed.

The 25th Anniversary Edition, with a foreword by Barbara Kingsolver "An enthralling story . . . A work of history that reads like a novel." Christian Science Monitor As Hochschilds brilliant book demonstrates, the great Congo scandal prefigured our own times . . . This book must be read and reread. Los Angeles Times Book ReviewA National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist * A New York Times Notable Book In the late nineteenth century, as the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium carried out a brutal plundering of the territory surrounding the Congo River. In a horrifying episode of colonial exploitation, he ultimately slashed the areas population by ten million yet still managed to shrewdly cultivate his reputation as a great humanitarian. A tale far richer than any novelist could invent, King Leopolds Ghost is the horrifying account of a megalomaniac of monstrous proportionsa dark chapter in African history. It is also the deeply moving portrait of those who defied Leopold: African rebel leaders who fought against hopeless odds and a brave handful of missionaries, travelers, and young idealists who went to Africa for work or adventure but unexpectedly found themselves witnesses to a holocaust and participants in the twentieth centurys first great human rights movement.How did one man orchestrate a holocaust while cultivating a reputation as a great humanitarian, and who were the heroes that dared to fight back?A Megalomaniacal King: Discover the story of King Leopold II of Belgium, a ruler of monstrous greed who plundered the Congo, slashing its population by millions while living a life of luxury. The Forgotten Holocaust: Uncover a horrifying, state-sponsored campaign of terror and forced labor that stands as one of the great mass killings of recent history. The First Human Rights Movement: Meet the brave handful of missionaries, travelers, and African rebels who defied Leopold and gave birth to the twentieth centurys first great international human rights campaign. Gripping Narrative History: Praised as a work of history that reads like a novel, this meticulously researched account brings a dark, forgotten chapter of the past to vivid, unforgettable life.

Winner of the Duff Cooper Prize, King Leopolds Ghost is the true and haunting account of Leopolds brutal regime and its lasting effect on a ruined nation. With an introduction by award-winning novelist Barbara Kingsolver.In the late nineteenth century, a time when Africa was being parcelled among European powers, King Leopold of Belgium seized vast, untapped territories around the Congo River. Under his brutal regime, resources were plundered, natives oppressed and populations halved. Amidst the corruption, Leopold maintained a façade of a compassionate leader.In King Leopolds Ghost, author Adam Hochschild introduces us to a group of missionaries and idealists who, upon their arrival in Africa, found themselves in the middle of a horrifying holocaust. Their courage to stand against Leopold shines a light on this often overlooked chapter of history.A devastating piece of African history, King Leopolds Ghost explores the grave cost paid by those silenced by colonial terror.All the tension and drama that one would expect in a good novel - Robert Harris, author of Fatherland

From the moment it began in 1936, the Spanish Civil War became the political question of the age. Hitler and Mussolini quickly sent aircraft, troops and supplies to the right-wing generals bent on overthrowing Spains elected government. Millions of people around the world felt passionately that rapidly advancing fascism must be halted in Spain; if not there, where? More than 35,000 volunteers from dozens of other countries went to help defend the Spanish Republic.Adam Hochschild, the acclaimed author of King Leopolds Ghost, evokes this tumultuous period mainly through the lives of Americans involved in the war. A few are famous, such as Ernest Hemingway, but others are less familiar. They include a nineteen-year-old Kentucky woman, a fiery leftist who came to wartime Spain on her honeymoon; a young man who ran away from his Pennsylvania college and became the first American casualty in the battle for Madrid; and a swashbuckling Texas oilman who covertly violated US law and sold Generalissimo Francisco Franco most of the fuel for his army. Two New York Times reporters, fierce rivals, covered the war from opposite sides, with opposite sympathies. There are Britons in Hochschilds cast of characters as well: one, a London sculptor, fought with the American battalion; another, who had just gone down from Cambridge, joined Francos army and found himself fighting against the Americans; and a third is someone whose experience of combat in Spain had a profound effect on his life, George Orwell.

National Bestseller One of the years most acclaimed works of nonfictionA BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: New York Times,Washington Post,New Yorker, Chicago Tribune, Kirkus, New York Post, Fast CompanyFrom legendary historian Adam Hochschild, a "masterly" (New York Times) reassessment of the overlooked but startlingly resonant period between World War I and the Roaring Twenties, when the foundations of American democracy were threatened by war, pandemic, and violence fueled by battles over race, immigration, and the rights of labor The nation was on the brink. Mobs burned Black churches to the ground. Courts threw thousands of people into prison for opinions they voicedin one notable case, only in private. Self-appointed vigilantes executed tens of thousands of citizens arrests. Some seventy-five newspapers and magazines were banned from the mail and forced to close. When the government stepped in, it was often to fan the flames. This was America during and after the Great War: a brief but appalling era blighted by lynchings, censorship, and the sadistic, sometimes fatal abuse of conscientious objectors in military prisonsa time whose toxic currents of racism, nativism, red-baiting, and contempt for the rule of law then flowed directly through the intervening decades to poison our own. It was a tumultuous period defined by a diverse and colorful cast of characters, some of whom fueled the injustice while others fought against it: from the sphinxlike Woodrow Wilson, to the fiery antiwar advocates Kate Richards OHare and Emma Goldman, to labor champion Eugene Debs, to a little-known but ambitious bureaucrat named J. Edgar Hoover, and to an outspoken leftwing agitatorwho was in fact Hoovers star undercover agent. It is a time that we have mostly forgotten about, until now. InAmerican Midnight, award-winning historian Adam Hochschild brings alive the horrifying yet inspiring four years following the U.S. entry into the First World War, spotlighting forgotten repression while celebrating an unforgettable set of Americans who strove to fix their fractured countryand showing how their struggles still guide us today.

En el tránsito del siglo xix al xx, cuando las potencias europeas se repartían África, el rey Leopoldo II de Bélgica llevó a cabo un brutal saqueo del territorio que rodeaba el río Congo. Aunque acabo reduciendo en diez millones de personas la poblacion de la zona, consiguio cultivar con astucia su fama de persona muy humanitaria. El fantasma del rey Leopoldo, relato de una riqueza mucho mayor de lo que cualquier novelista podria inventar, es la descripcion horripilante de un megalomaniaco de proporciones monstruosas. Y es tambien el retrato conmovedor de quienes desafiaron a Leopoldo: los dirigentes rebeldes africanos que lucharon a la desesperada y un puñado de valientes misioneros, viajeros y jovenes idealistas que fueron a Africa en busca de trabajo o aventura pero acabaron siendo inesperadamente testigos de un holocausto y participantes en el primer movimiento del siglo xx a favor de los derechos humanos.