Sophy Roberts

4 weeks ago | brusselstimes.com | Sophy Roberts

The year is 1897 or 1898. Imagine, briskly stepping off a steamer that has just crossed the English Channel, a forceful, burly man in his mid-20s, with a handlebar moustache. With an ailing mother and a wife and growing family to support he is not the sort of person likely to get caught up in any idealistic cause. He looks – and is – every inch the sober, respectable businessman. Edmund Dene Morel is a trusted employee of Elder Dempster, a Liverpool-based shipping line.

1 month ago | ft.com | Sophy Roberts

As the sun slipped towards the edge of the Barotse Floodplain, everything began to glow in the dying light: the blushing lilies that...

2 months ago | airmail.news | Sophy Roberts

The well-known story of King Leopold II of Belgium’s violent theft of what’s now the Democratic Republic of the Congo is told by Adam Hochschild in his seminal 1998 book, King Leopold’s Ghost. But there’s another, lesser-known narrative, a footnote linked to the seeds of Leopold’s initial colonial ambition, which caught my attention four years ago.

2 months ago | flipboard.com | Sophy Roberts

3 hours agoHamas says disarmament ‘not up for negotiation’ ahead of talks with Egyptian mediatorsA Hamas delegation will meet Egyptian mediators in Cairo on Saturday for talks on a Gaza ceasefire, a senior official from the Palestinian terror …2 hours agoEagles select S Andrew Mukuba with last pick of second roundOnce again, the Eagles have added to their defense. With the No. 64 overall pick to cap the second round, Philadelphia has selected safety Andrew …

2 months ago | lithub.com | Sophy Roberts

Over the last few years, I’ve been coming and going from England, where I live, to East and Central Africa to research a book. A Training School for Elephants tells the story of a forgotten 1879 expedition commissioned by King Leopold II of Belgium. Article continues after advertisementHe wanted to test a new transport system to extract Congo’s resources.