This is a study of Europe's dark history in Africa, written both in the form of a travel diary and as a historical examination of European imperialism and racism over the past two centuries. Sven Lindqvist draws on newspaper accounts, the writings of European explorers theologians, politicians and historians, from the late-18th century onwards, in his search to make sense of that most terrifying of Conrad's lines: "Exterminate all the brutes." Lindqvist argues that the harrowing racism that led to the Holocaust in the 20th century had its roots in European colonial policy of the preceding century.