Children of the Days, Eduardo Galeano (Allen Lane) FACT

Posted 16:21, 22 May 2013

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Uruguagan writer Eduardo Galeano presents a "calendar of human history". Each day of the year presents a vignette of some forgotten, obscure, or alternative view of historical events. Always entertaining and often astounding. Today, for example - in 1907 Belgian cartoonist Herge` invented Tintin, comic-book hero.

"Tintin incarnated the civilising virtues of the white race. In his best-selling adventure, Tintin visited the Congo, still owned by Blegium, and there he laughed heartily at the ridiculous doings of black people and entertained himself hunting. He shot fifteen antelope, skinned a monkey for a disguise, blew up a rhinocerous with a stick of dynamite and stuck a gun into the open mouths of many crocodiles and pulled the trigger. Tintin said that elephants spoke much better French than the black people.For a souvenir he killed one and pulled out its ivory tusks. The trip was a lot of fun."

This also explains why you won't find "Tintin in the Congo" in our shop. 

HB. £16.99