The Lumumba Plot

The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination

By: Stuart A. Reid

Narrated by: Michael Boatman

Length: 18 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice • A spellbinding work of history that comes across like a Cold War spy thriller—about the U.S.-sanctioned plot to assassinate the democratically elected leader of the newly independent Congo

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, The Economist, Financial Times

“This is one of the best books I have read in years . . . gripping, full of colorful characters, and strange plot twists.”—Fareed Zakaria, CNN host

It was supposed to be a moment of great optimism, a cause for jubilation. The Congo was at last being set free from Belgium—one of seventeen countries to gain independence in 1960 from ruling European powers. At the helm as prime minister was charismatic nationalist Patrice Lumumba. Just days after the handover, however, the Congo’s new army mutinied, Belgian forces intervened, and Lumumba turned to the United Nations for help in saving his newborn nation from what the press was already calling “the Congo crisis.” Dag Hammarskjöld, the tidy Swede serving as UN secretary-general, quickly arranged the organization’s biggest peacekeeping mission in history. But chaos was still spreading. Frustrated with the fecklessness of the UN and spurned by the United States, Lumumba then approached the Soviets for help—an appeal that set off alarm bells at the CIA. To forestall the spread of Communism in Africa, the CIA sent word to its station chief in the Congo, Larry Devlin: Lumumba had to go.

Within a year, everything would unravel. The CIA plot to murder Lumumba would fizzle out, but he would be deposed in a CIA-backed coup, transferred to enemy territory in a CIA-approved operation, and shot dead by Congolese assassins. Hammarskjöld, too, would die, in a mysterious plane crash en route to negotiate a cease-fire with the Congo’s rebellious southeast. And a young, ambitious military officer named Joseph Mobutu, who had once sworn fealty to Lumumba, would seize power with U.S. help and misrule the country for more than three decades. For the Congolese people, the events of 1960-61 represented the opening chapter of a long horror story. For the U.S. government, however, they provided a playbook for future interventions.

©2023 Stuart A. Reid (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Fascinating. . . . Reid develops his main characters beautifully, especially Lumumba. . . . [A] carefully researched book that warns us about what is lost when tensions between great powers play out in the developing world.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Reid has brought welcome narrative coherence to a globe-spanning, multilayered story. He manages a difficult balancing act, serving up the detail that will satisfy experts while providing the dramatic tension and character analysis craved by the general reader. Despite the story’s complexity, one’s attention never wanders.”—The Atlantic

"[The Lumumba Plot] is many things at once: a biography, a history of Congo’s chaotic independence, a dissection of the UN’s first big peacekeeping mission and a thriller about plots to kill Lumumba. There are villains of every stripe, from rogue Belgian pilots to shamelessly scheming UN officials and racist ambassadors. This is a tragic tale but also a rollicking read. . . . Lumumba’s life might seem of a distant, dramatic era. Yet this story feels timely.”—The Economist

A must read for those interested in colonial history

This book is truly remarkable as it reveals the various interests and anxieties related to the fight of African countries for their independence. It instill ongoing and hopefully, the future will look brighter for them. Self determination and fight against corruption will be key.

Somewhere between a bio and a hatchet job

I'm all for warts-and-all biographies. For all too long, we've been spoon fed mythology about this historical figure or that one. But this book befuddles me. It's meticulous in detail. Perhaps too much, as it recounts minutiae which frankly might be left on the editor's floor. That is to say, it drones on with the mundanity of the main figure's life.

But worse is the consistent efforts made to belittle Lumumba. Whether it be through slanderous propaganda from Belgium or America or opprobrium rightfully earned by the man himself, it is incessant. It may be a case of extreme appeasement of those who might jump to conclusions about the purpose of the book, but it's hard to say. And while the author makes it clear the the outcome of Congolese independence and self-determination is inevitable and right, it never escapes the imagination of the listener that he is not entirely unsympathetic to the more conservative, colonial, racist positions held in Europe and the USA. Not to mention that the point of the story, encapsulated in the title and subtitle aren't even remarked upon in any depth for 2/3rds of the book. Frankly, I wanted better, more astute political insight, and less tabloid reportage of Lumumba's sex life, criminal history and pettiness. All relevant, no question, but in proportion. Overall a disappointment, but worth the significant moments.

And one point regarding the narration. Generally acceptable, but it became increasingly humorous as the narrator wrestled with the name of the contemporaneous Secretary General of the UN, Dag Hammarskjöld. I understand he's making the effort to pronounce it correctly (and not how it looks to a non-Swede), but the listener can virtually hear the sphincter contract as he spits it out.
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Tragic, educational, and thorough

A very seemingly well told account of Lumumba's life. Even for myself as a Congolese born in the 90s and who mostly grew up outside of Congo, I learned so many nuances about this story. Particularly, the misconception that Lumumba was a communist. This book goes into careful depth in explaining all the factors and parties that were at play leading to the 1960 independence and the subsequent 12 months.

Worth a listen

I’m an American conservative and I thought this book was very fairly presented. Treatments like this often end up being anti-American, but I thought the author did an excellent job looking at the virtues and (much more often) vices of all the major players and assigning blame fairly. Definitely worth a listen.

Shameful and still going on!

Excellent research on a long ago story still relevant today. The US govt has not learned a damn thing. We are still arrogant and just as nasty as we were 60 years ago. Good reader but his attempt to imitate Africans speaking English is poor. Next time just read in your own voice which is very clear.

WOW

The fight for freedom and the death that follows.
Lumumba was fighting a losing battle from the start. But he gave them a run for their money. what one man can achieve.

A brilliant, timely book

I listened to the audible recording of this book in Lubumbashi, formerly Elizabethville, near where Patrice Lumumba was executed. It is a tour de force. Stuart Reid has earned all of the acclaim this book is receiving. I have researched Lumumba's life for five years, but Reid taught me more in this book than in any other I have read. His research is impeccable, and his writing is clear and compelling. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
The audio performance is also excellent, though the African accents sound more Ghanaian than Congolese. Still, beautifully done!

Fascinating story

I’d like the fact that this was a well researched book and the facts were more important than the personalities.

Amazingly well researched and simply told

This is undoubtedly one of the best books I have listened to in a very long time. This is a topic that has interested me for a very long time and this book is therefore very timely. Its expose on the awfulness and impact of ill-judged decisions, based on poorly understood geopolitical and cultural factors, by all parties, on people’s lives is a damning indictment against those with power.

Great character and plot development

The character development in this book was top notch and you learn the good the bad and the ugly of every main character in this plot’s history. The author’s level of detail actually borders on disturbing it’s so precise, for instance, the book details the weather on the day when Lumumba was killed.