In the forest of no joy : the Congo-Océan railroad and the tragedy of French colonialism / J.P. Daughton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Daughton, J. P. (James Patrick), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chemin de fer Congo-océan--History.

Chemin de fer Congo-océan.

Railroads--Congo (Brazzaville)--History.

Railroads.

Railroad construction workers--Abuse of--Congo (Brazzaville)--History.

Railroad construction workers.

History.

Congo (Brazzaville).

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

368 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : W. W. Norton & Company, [2021]

Summary:

"The epic story of the Congo-Océan railroad and the human costs and contradictions of modern empire. The Congo-Océan railroad stretches across the Republic of Congo from Brazzaville to the Atlantic port of Pointe-Noir. It was completed in 1934, when Equatorial Africa was a French colony, and it stands as one of the deadliest construction projects in history. Colonial workers were subjects of an ostensibly democratic nation whose motto read "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," but liberal ideals were savaged by a cruelly indifferent administrative state. Native workers were forcibly conscripted and suffered under hellish conditions-hunger, disease, rampant physical abuse-that resulted in at least 20,000-25,000 deaths. In the Forest of No Joy captures in vivid detail the experiences of the men, women, and children who toiled on the railroad, and forces a reassessment of the moral relationship between modern industrialized empires and what could be called global humanitarian impulses-the desire to improve the lives of people outside of Europe"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Remaking The Congo

2. The Right Man For The Job

3. The Pacha Prelude

4. Manhunt

5. "The Mayombe Doesn't Want Us"

6. Tropic Of Cruelty

7. Disobedience And Desertion

8. The Many Ways Of Death

9. A Bureaucrat's Humanitarianism

10. Silencing Critics

11. The Victory And The Forgetting

12. The Violence Of Empire.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-356) and index.

ISBN:

9780393541014

0393541010

OCLC:

1196174179