Language English Media type Print ISBN 1-86207-290-6 Originally published 1963 Page count 310 Publisher Allen & Unwin | Publication date 1963 Pages 310 Dewey Decimal 923.1493 Genre Biography Country United Kingdom | |
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Neal Ascherson books Stone Voices, The struggles for Poland, The Polish August, Games with shadows, The yes road | ||
The King Incorporated was the first history book published by award-winning Scottish journalist and historian Neal Ascherson exploring the course of the Congo Free State from its foundation to annexation, as well as the role of King Leopold II.
The King Incorporated was first published in 1963 (three years after the Congo's independence from Belgium) and has been reprinted in eight editions. The 1999 edition (published by Granta) modified the book's title to The King Incorporated: Leopold the Second and the Congo, omitting the reference to trusts.
Reception
The work was described by The Guardian as "a fascinating account of Leopold II of Belgium and his extraordinary attempt to integrate the rapacious exploitation of a personal colony with a version of 19th-century European kingship." The celebrated British historian A.J.P. Taylor also praised the work.