King Leopold'S Soliloquy: A Defense Of His Congo Rule

Mark Twain's King Leopold's Soliloquy is a blistering satirical political essay that turns a sovereign's self-justification into an indictment of empire. It cuts through the silence. Written in the early 20th century, Twain adopts the voice of a ruler to expose the hypocrisies and moral blind spots at the heart of colonialism in Africa; the piece belongs to anti-imperialist literature and classic social criticism. Sharp, theatrical and uncomfortably candid, it distils complex history into s...