My flatmate recently told me about the atrocities committed there by Belgium and I was quite shocked to realize that I know nothing about any of it.
I'd really like to inform myself and read further into the subject, but am not sure where to start. I appreciate both factual accounts by historians as well as stories told by witnesses etc.
TIA for your help!
Probably the most popular account is King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild. He is not a professional historian but the book is very well-written and based on scholarly and primary sources.
No book recommendation from me, but there was this great AMA a few years back on the congo free state to get you started on the subject
King Leopold's Ghost is a good read. You should realize though that his estimates for total deaths are quite controversial. Death tolls were massive, but totals are pretty speculative.