Patrice Lumumba, first prime minister of the Republic of Congo and a pioneer of African unity, was murdered on 17 January 1961. Lumumba was at the centre of the country’s popular defiance towards the relentless exploitation of its Belgian coloniser. When independence was finally won in June 1960, his unscheduled speech at the official ceremonies in Kinshasa, which described Belgian rule as "a humiliating slavery imposed by brute force," received a standing ovation and made him a hero to millions. Within months he was arrested, tortured and executed. This book unravels the appalling mass of lies and betrayals that have surrounded accounts of the murder.