Colonial Congo. A history in questions

"State of the art of historical research on Belgian colonial past and twentieth-century DRC, the volume is on the forefront of social science research. The volume covers a wide spectrum of issues, from arts to zoology, with every chapter providing an easy-to-follow summary of current scholarly knowledge followed by a very useful bibliographical guide. It lives up to its editors’ engagement to provide the academic knowledge as ‘usable past’ directly 'from producer to consumer, without intermediaries'. Getting rid of polemical fixation about Belgian colonial past, the volume authors connect Belgian-Congolese history to a wider historical context, an important contribution to general public awareness. In the last chapter, Isidore Ndaywel è Nziem, a leading Congolese scholar, stresses the need to free Belgian-Congolese relations from the ‘colonial situation’ straitjacket. According to him, recognizing shared - even if they are divided - memory as common heritage needs to be the starting point for building a better relationship. This volume is an outstanding contribution to the public history of Belgium’s colonial past and its postcolonial polemics."