Review by Booklist Review
The chemical element tantalum, derived from the mineral coltan, is something few have heard of, yet we hold it in our hands every time we pick up a cell phone. Sadly, the convenience of instant communication it enables comes at a high cost, since the rapacious mining of coltan and other prized minerals has led indirectly to the slaughter of more than five million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Eichstaedt, a veteran reporter on African issues whose previous books investigated Somali pirates and Ugandan child soldiers, is determined to make the West aware of the deadly link in this sobering account of Congolese genocide. He describes his travels across a war-ravaged landscape, interviewing Congolese soldiers, UN peacekeepers, and survivors of brutal attacks on tribal villages while cataloging a disturbing pattern of militia-led power grabs to exploit rich mineral resources. In the end, Eichstaedt doesn't merely chastise us for using tainted technology but offers a long-term solution involving reducing demand for so-calle. conflict mineral. and fostering connections with the Congolese people.--Hays, Car. Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In harrowing detail, Eichstaedt (First Kill Your Family) investigates the "the deadliest human catastrophe since World War II," the carnage in eastern Congo, fought for and financed by the country's stores of rare and precious resources including gold and coltan, the metal powering our cellphones and computers. As one of Eichstaedt's interviewees says, "It is as if the blood draws the gold out of the earth." Firsthand accounts of massacres and sexual assault so rampant it is best described as "sexual terrorism" are juxtaposed with the desperate attempts of aid groups struggling to save civilians. The struggle to wrest control of the mining is clotted by profiteers, militias backed by Rwanda and Uganda, and an alphabet soup of aid agency acronyms. The detail can be dizzying, but Eichstaedt keeps the narrative focused. The book includes the stories of survivors, militiamen, the miners in the "killing fields," and recounts the Congo's role in global commerce. While the issues raised seemed daunting if not outright intractable, Eichstaedt provides counterpoint and a glimmer of hope in the form of possible reforms and legislations that could restore order to a devastated region. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Once again, a journalist familiar with African politics, economics and culture tells a shocking story of widespread corruption, greed and bloody violence, this time in a region rich in tin and coltan, minerals used in the manufacture electronic devices.As Africa Editor for the Institute for War Peace Reporting at The Hague,Eichstaedt (Pirate State: Inside Terrorism at Sea, 2010; etc.) traveled around the eastern Congo giving workshops to train local journalists and talking to militia leaders, former child soldiers, businessmen, aid workers and victims. A two-chapter side journey into neighboring Sudan, which seems rather out-of-place here, demonstrates that ethnic rivalries and fighting over a country's resources is not unique to the Congo. However, the eastern Congo has become "the rape capital of the world"and, with more than five million dead in the last decade, the site of "the deadliest human catastrophe since World War II." Eichstaedt's reporting reveals in grim detail how rival ethnic militias and the national Congolese army fight for control over the region's rich mines, how villagers are routinely slain with guns or machetes or by being burned alive, how pick-and-shovel miners are heavily taxed by unpaid soldiers and how rape has become a tactic of war. In their own words, his interviewees often provide unrealistic solutions to their predicament or show a calm acceptance of the chaos and violence around them. The answer, writes the author, is not simply a ban on "conflict minerals" as was recently instituted by the United States, or peace-keeping efforts by the United Nations; it must come from the Congolese people demanding responsible government. Eichstaedt does not offer much hope that it will happen soon.The welter of unfamiliar names of places, organizations and people makes for slow reading (maps and a cast of characters would have helped), but the main stumbling block for many will be the sheer horror and hopelessness of it all.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
