In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo

"Wholly unsentimental," a foreign correspondent's exploration of political corruption in Africa "gets it right . . . [a] chillingly amusing cautionary tale." —Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World

Known as "the Leopard," the president of Zaire for thirty-two years, Mobutu Sese Seko, showed all the cunning of his namesake—seducing Western powers, buying up the opposition, and dominating his people with a devastating combination of brutality and charm. While the population was paupe...