Why read A Report of the Kingdom of Congo?

Book cover of A Report of the Kingdom of Congo: And of the Surrounding Countries; Drawn Out of the Writings and Discourses of the Portuguese, Duarte Lopez

Book description

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked A Report of the Kingdom of Congo as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Anjan Sundaram

Author

One of the first European accounts of Congo, I read this book for my PhD, studying under the British author and journalist Giles Foden.

Pigafetta's account helped me understand the lenses—often colonial, of exoticism, fear, and wonder—through which Congo and Central Africans have long been perceived by Europeans and the world.

Pigafetta writes of Africa as the unknown, the dark, the frightening and mysterious, ideas still present in the news we consume today. I had often wondered why certain stories I pitch never get published, while others are easy sells.

The answers are rooted in events centuries ago, and it's…

From Anjan's list on The best foreign correspondent memoirs of Africa.