In the 1970s, during the ruinous 30-year dictatorship of General Mobutu, periodic rebellions led to the hasty insertion once again of Belgian and French paratroops to save European lives.

From the mid-1990s the country split again, becoming the battleground for the largest African war in history, as armies and rebel groups from Rwanda, Angola, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Namibia and other countries crossed into the Congo to support one side or the other, or simply to loot the rich resources. Major operations ended – or paused – in 2002, but the old hatreds and constant lure of the Congo's natural resources continue to boil over into periodic outbreaks.

Featuring specially commissioned full-colour artwork and rare photographs, this is the harrowing story of the wars that ravaged the Congo for four decades.