The Crime of the Congo

by Arthur Conan Doyle

"The Crime of the Congo" by Arthur Conan Doyle is a book published in 1909 that exposes human rights abuses in the Congo Free State, the personal property of Belgium's King Leopold II. Doyle documents the brutal exploitation and torture of indigenous people in the rubber trade, calling these crimes "the greatest to be ever known." He argues that public opinion remained dormant because the terrible story had not been properly told—a situation he sought to change through this powerful indictment.