Democratic Republic of Congo

Michael Deibert is an author and journalist, whose writing has appeared in the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Wall Street Journal, the Miami Herald, Le Monde diplomatique and Folha de São Paulo, among other publications. He has been a featured commentator on international affairs for the BBC, Channel 4, Al Jazeera, National Public Radio, WNYC New York Public Radio and KPFK Pacifica Radio. In recent years, Michael has worked to increase and sustain dialogue on international peace-building and development issues, with a particular focus on Africa and Latin America. He is the author of Notes from the Last Testament: The Struggle for Haiti (2005).

In this remarkable tour de force of reporting, analysis, historical inquiry, and personal experience, Michael Deibert delivers the story of Congo's bloody recent history in unflinching, often bitingly acerbic prose, setting forth in the clearest terms the causes, perpetrators, and disastrous effects of the seemingly endless Congo wars. Anyone searching for a genuine way forward for Congo needs to read this book.

• Prologue: the killing fields1. Kingdom of Kongo to first Congo Republic2. Fire in his wake3. The great Congo wars4. Enter his father's house5. One hundred per cent Congolese6. Glittering demons7. Threats from within and without8. A false peace9. Elections, encore10. Rebellion after rebellionEpilogue