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The King Incorporated: Leopold the Second and the Congo
It is the aim of this text to describe Leopold II without prejudice. The text presents many aspects of his life: as a most ruthless negotiator; as the cold father; and as the sensual ancient riding his tricycle at Vilefranche-sur-Mer to pedal round to the villa of a young mistress.
310 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1963
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About the author
Neal Ascherson
65 books41 followersCharles Neal Ascherson (b. 1932) is a Scottish journalist and writer.
He was born in Edinburgh and educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, where he read history and graduated with a triple starred first. He was described by the historian Eric Hobsbawm as "perhaps the most brilliant student I ever had. I didn't really teach him much, I just let him get on with it."
Ascherson's books include The King Incorporated: Leopold II (1963), The Polish August (1982), The Struggles for Poland (1987), Games with Shadows (1989), Black Sea (1996), Stone Voices (2002), and The Death of the Fronsac (2017).
He was the cental and eastern Europe correspondent for The Observer for many years. He also covered southern and central Africa for The Observer and The Scotsman from 1969 - 1989 and was the politics correspondent for The Scotsman from 1975 - 1979.
In the aftemath of Scotland's first devolution referendum in 1979, Ascherson was one of the editors of The Bulletin of Scottish Politics (1980-81). From 1998 until 2008, he was editor of Public Archaeology, a journal from the Institute of Archaeology at UCL, as well as a columnist for The Observer and Independent on Sunday 1985 - 2008.
He lives in London and Argyll.
He was born in Edinburgh and educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, where he read history and graduated with a triple starred first. He was described by the historian Eric Hobsbawm as "perhaps the most brilliant student I ever had. I didn't really teach him much, I just let him get on with it."
Ascherson's books include The King Incorporated: Leopold II (1963), The Polish August (1982), The Struggles for Poland (1987), Games with Shadows (1989), Black Sea (1996), Stone Voices (2002), and The Death of the Fronsac (2017).
He was the cental and eastern Europe correspondent for The Observer for many years. He also covered southern and central Africa for The Observer and The Scotsman from 1969 - 1989 and was the politics correspondent for The Scotsman from 1975 - 1979.
In the aftemath of Scotland's first devolution referendum in 1979, Ascherson was one of the editors of The Bulletin of Scottish Politics (1980-81). From 1998 until 2008, he was editor of Public Archaeology, a journal from the Institute of Archaeology at UCL, as well as a columnist for The Observer and Independent on Sunday 1985 - 2008.
He lives in London and Argyll.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 4, 2023
This was totally the wrong book on the Congo under King Leopold – I now realise should have read King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild, published in 1998, 36 years after The King Incorporated, when a ton more research had been done.
Only a single chapter covers the story of the awful atrocities that were perpetrated in the 1890s and 1900s to enforce the extraction of rubber. (You will all know that the horrors of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and therefore Coppola’s Apocalypse Now were based on reports from the Congo.)
The rest of the book is excruciatingly detailed accounts of the financial & political wheelings, dealings and outright swindlings perpetrated by this gruesome Leopold (one of history's most disgusting villains) who was able to throw dust in everybody’s face and rake in untold fortunes over the bodies of millions of Africans (minimum 3 million) for years.
The author turns a horror story into a technical plod. But it’s my fault, readers should find the right book not the one they happen to stumble over.
Only a single chapter covers the story of the awful atrocities that were perpetrated in the 1890s and 1900s to enforce the extraction of rubber. (You will all know that the horrors of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and therefore Coppola’s Apocalypse Now were based on reports from the Congo.)
The rest of the book is excruciatingly detailed accounts of the financial & political wheelings, dealings and outright swindlings perpetrated by this gruesome Leopold (one of history's most disgusting villains) who was able to throw dust in everybody’s face and rake in untold fortunes over the bodies of millions of Africans (minimum 3 million) for years.
The author turns a horror story into a technical plod. But it’s my fault, readers should find the right book not the one they happen to stumble over.
September 22, 2013
"BELGIUM DOESN'T EXPLOIT THE WORLD"
Or so wrote the Duke of Brabant in 1863, "it's a taste we have got to make her learn." In the period after becoming King Leopold II of Belgium in 1865 he certainly led by example, acquiring and then exploiting the Congo "Free" State for all it was worth. Neal Ascherson's 1963 book "The King Incorporated" narrates just how the King of the Belgians achieved this feat. That story is combined with a good deal of biographical material regarding the King and the Royal Family, the history of Belgium in the period leading up to his death in 1909, and placed within the larger sphere of European history.
Leopold himself is a fairly nauseating specimen. He had cold and dictatorial relations with his own children, faced plausible accusations of having been involved in the procurement of pre-pubescent girls, and a relationship with a sixteen year old in the final years of his life. A combination of factors allowed him to procure his colony: his prestigious position as King, a precocious sense of Public Relations well ahead of his time, a vast array of colonial holding companies, a thick veneer of humanitarian verbiage, and the fact that as the King of Belgium he wasn't viewed as a threat by the larger European powers whose Scramble for Africa was then at it's height.
The weakness in the book, and it no doubt reflects the early stage research was at in 1963, is that only a small part of it deals with Leopold's ruthless exploitation of the Congo Free State. The only concrete figure that Ascherson is able to hazard regarding the cost in lives is that of the British Consul Roger Casement made in the 1900's, 3 million; modern research suggests nearer 10 million. The majority of the book is taken up with Leopold's biography, and relating the complex web of intrigues that allowed him to personally own the Congo and become immensely rich in the process.
It's a clearly written book, though the complexities of his financial manoeuvrings do require extra attention. The lack of material on the exploitation of the Congo Free State can easily be remedied by referring to Adam Hochschild's "King Leopold's Ghost", which Ascherson graciously, and accurately, refers to as "brilliant" in his 1999 introduction. As a readable history of the life and times of King Leopold, and how he created one of the most brutal and murderous European colonies in the whole sordid history of Imperialism, it is still worth reading. For an excellent narrative history of Africa and European Colonialism, that puts Leopold's Congo in context, I'd recommend Thomas Pakenham's "The Scramble for Africa".
Or so wrote the Duke of Brabant in 1863, "it's a taste we have got to make her learn." In the period after becoming King Leopold II of Belgium in 1865 he certainly led by example, acquiring and then exploiting the Congo "Free" State for all it was worth. Neal Ascherson's 1963 book "The King Incorporated" narrates just how the King of the Belgians achieved this feat. That story is combined with a good deal of biographical material regarding the King and the Royal Family, the history of Belgium in the period leading up to his death in 1909, and placed within the larger sphere of European history.
Leopold himself is a fairly nauseating specimen. He had cold and dictatorial relations with his own children, faced plausible accusations of having been involved in the procurement of pre-pubescent girls, and a relationship with a sixteen year old in the final years of his life. A combination of factors allowed him to procure his colony: his prestigious position as King, a precocious sense of Public Relations well ahead of his time, a vast array of colonial holding companies, a thick veneer of humanitarian verbiage, and the fact that as the King of Belgium he wasn't viewed as a threat by the larger European powers whose Scramble for Africa was then at it's height.
The weakness in the book, and it no doubt reflects the early stage research was at in 1963, is that only a small part of it deals with Leopold's ruthless exploitation of the Congo Free State. The only concrete figure that Ascherson is able to hazard regarding the cost in lives is that of the British Consul Roger Casement made in the 1900's, 3 million; modern research suggests nearer 10 million. The majority of the book is taken up with Leopold's biography, and relating the complex web of intrigues that allowed him to personally own the Congo and become immensely rich in the process.
It's a clearly written book, though the complexities of his financial manoeuvrings do require extra attention. The lack of material on the exploitation of the Congo Free State can easily be remedied by referring to Adam Hochschild's "King Leopold's Ghost", which Ascherson graciously, and accurately, refers to as "brilliant" in his 1999 introduction. As a readable history of the life and times of King Leopold, and how he created one of the most brutal and murderous European colonies in the whole sordid history of Imperialism, it is still worth reading. For an excellent narrative history of Africa and European Colonialism, that puts Leopold's Congo in context, I'd recommend Thomas Pakenham's "The Scramble for Africa".
July 27, 2025
I thought the book was a great read, especially considering it has been written in the early sixties. I was a bit taken back by the negative reviews here which I can summarise in 2 main criticisms: the book is not 100% about the atrocities in the Congo, and the tone is neo-imperialist. I cannot agree with either criticism. First of all, is it quite normal that a biography of a person is not 100% about a specific part of a country’s history. That would be like criticising the biography of Bill Gates on the fact that it is not the company history of Microsoft. On the second criticism, I can also not agree. In no way is the writer apologising imperialist behaviour. He clearly states all of the atrocities, how Leopold was crafty at using the press to hide them, and how the Belgian state was always more influenced by economic motives rather than purely ethical ones. All in all, the writer acknowledges the energy and skills of Leopold as a king without using it somehow as imperialist propaganda. It suffices to read the chapter on his daughters or the final chapter on the dissolution of his trust funds to understand that in the Leopold failed at life and in his main professional objectives. Can recommend this book
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews