I'm looking for reading on the history of the DRC so that I might better understand the situation today and in the past 20 years. I know that this will come close to the 20 year rule, but if anyone could point me to some reading resources then I'd be very grateful. I have nearly no background knowledge of the country or the continent, but I don't mind dense reading.
Thanks!
Africa is not my expertise, though I read about it often and visit the same.
I would recommend "Africa's World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe" by Gerard Prunier. And, his book "The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide" is a great primer as well since the two subjects from that period are interrelated.
And of course, for more background, King Leopold's Ghost is essential reading.
Jason Stearns' Dancing in the Glory of Monsters. Great take on the Congo Wars of the 90s-00s and major figures still in power today. Ties in well with King Leopold's Ghost, taking us from Leopold to Kabila. Both are very digestible and replete with revealing anectdotes.
Stearns was the New York Times guy for DRC. He now has a blog following political developments in DRC. He rarely posts but when he does it's worth following. I believe Adam Hoschild was also a New York Times writer, so the connections between the two continue there.
Prunier is generally good so I'd imagine Africa's World War would be up to his standards. He is generally more interested in the geopolitical causes of African conflict than the nitty gritty of African Affairs.
If you want to go back to the Congo Crisis, you can't do better than Lise Namikas. I can't summon the name off the top of my head but I think it's Battleground Africa.
Georges Nzongola-Ntalaga's From Leopold to Kabila is a great overview by an African scholar. It's been a while since I've looked at it but I'd imagine it still holds up well.
I'll second /u/rustyarrowhead's recommendation for Dancing in the Glory of Monsters, it is a very readable account that does a good job explaining the period from 1993-2008. Also, Stearns' blog at the Congo Research Group is worth following for commentary about current events in DRC.
I'd also recommend Filip Reyntjen's book Great African War; Congo and Regional Geopolitics 1996-2006 and Thomas Turner's Congo Wars; Conflict, Myth and Reality. Turner takes pains to plot out the connections between the Congo Free State in the 19th century and the violence from 1996-2006.
For a work about post-conflict DRC, I'd recommend Democratic Republic of Congo; between hope and despair by Michael Deibert, which describes the period from about 2006-2012.
Though not strictly an academic book, David Van Reybrouck's 'Congo- The Epic History of a People' too is a very good read.