Non-fiction: The Crime of the Congo

Overview
Arthur Conan Doyle delivers a passionate, forensic indictment of the Congo Free State, exposing the systematic brutality under the personal rule of King Leopold II. Far from a dry history, the narrative reads as a polemical exposé that marshals documentary evidence, eyewitness testimony, and moral argument to make a case that the Congo's exploitation amounts to a crime against humanity. The tone mixes forensic detail with moral urgency, aimed at galvanizing public opinion and political action.

Documented Abuses
The account catalogs a catalogue of abuses tied to the rubber and ivory economy: forced labor, hostage-taking, village burnings, mass famine, and mutilations such as the cutting off of hands used as proof of fulfillment of brutal quotas. Missionary reports, consular records, and firsthand accounts are presented to show a consistent pattern across provinces, implicating the mechanisms of colonial control, the Force Publique and concessionary companies, in widespread depredation. These abuses are set against the economic incentives that sustained them and the bureaucratic structures that enabled impunity.

Method and Argument
Doyle organizes evidence to establish both fact and culpability, moving from specific cases and testimonies to broader statistical and administrative claims. The rhetorical strategy blends moral outrage with legalistic reasoning: atrocities are not merely tragic consequences but the foreseeable outcomes of policies deliberately designed to extract profit. There is frequent appeal to the conscience of the British reader, framed by appeals to common law, Christian ethics, and imperial responsibility, all used to argue that apathy or polite indifference equates to complicity.

Context and Campaign
The exposé is situated within an ongoing international campaign against Leopold's personal colony, joining the efforts of activists such as E. D. Morel, Roger Casement, and various missionary networks. Public indignation had already produced parliamentary inquiries and press investigations; Doyle's voice lent literary prestige and wider readership to the cause. The account also critiques the diplomatic evasions and propaganda that had allowed the Congo Free State to mask its realities, arguing that official denials could not withstand the accumulation of consistent testimony.

Aftermath and Legacy
The book fed into a broader movement that eventually forced political change: international pressure and sustained activism led to the Belgian government's takeover of the Congo Free State in 1908 and continuing reforms, though Doyle insists moral and practical vigilance remained necessary. Historically, the work stands as an early example of humanitarian advocacy by a prominent public intellectual, combining narrative urgency with documentary detail to shape public debate. While some critics note its moral certainties and occasional rhetorical excesses, the exposé remains a vivid record of a campaign to hold empire accountable for mass violence and exploitation.