Already divided by the anti-Semitic currents of the Dreyfus Affair, France was about to discover the reality of its administration in central Africa. The European economy's greed for rubber had created a hidden world of slave labor and violence, with scenes that inspired the "horror" of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
Brazza, A Life for Africa is the first English-language biography of a man who lived an extraordinary life. Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza was a nobleman, a naval cadet, an explorer, a glamorous idol to 19th-century Parisians, a colonial governor, and a human rights investigator, as well as a husband, father, and friend. By turns thrilling, romantic, and tragic, Brazza's story blends exotic adventures with all-too-human emotions and experiences.
Born in Boston, a graduate of Harvard and the Sorbonne Nouvelle, Maria Petringa has spent her adult life in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. She has worked as a teacher and translator, and is now a writer and journalist. She lives in Paris.