Devil and Mr Casement

In September 1910, the human rights activist and anti-imperialist Roger Casement arrived in the Amazon to investigate reports of widespread human rights abuses in the vast forests stretching along the Putumayo River. Fresh from documenting the scarcely imaginable atrocities perpetrated by King Leopold in the Congo, Casement uncovered an appalling catalogue of abuse: nearly 30,000 Indians had died to produce 4,000 tonnes of rubber. Jordan Goodman recounts a crime against humanity that history has almost forgotten, but whose exposure in 1912 sent shockwaves around the world. Drawing on a wealth of original research, "The Devil and Mr Casement" is a story of colonial exploitation and corporate greed with enormous contemporary resonance.