S. V. Mazov "The Cold War in the 'Heart of Africa'. The USSR and the Congolese crisis, 1960-1964 "(Moscow, Dmitry Pozharsky University. 2015. 312 s, with Fig.) It is dedicated to one of the most complex and controversial periods in the history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The young republic, as soon as it was freed from its colonial fetters, was taking only the first steps towards an independent life. There were no experienced politicians in the country who could firmly stand at the helm of power, and there were not enough simply literate people. By the time of independence, there were only 17 people with university degrees and not a single doctor of their own.

If the young African country had its own plans for the development of the republic, then the former metropolis - Belgium-sought to keep it in the orbit of its interests. The United States also had views of the Congo. The main object of their attraction was the untold riches that nature had lavished on this country, including copper, gold, diamonds, uranium, and rare earth metals.

S. V. Mazov's work is an in-depth study. Impressive is the huge array of documents that the author has worked out in the Archive of Foreign Policy of Russia, the Russian State Archive of Modern History, the State Archive of the Russian Federation, as well as in the National Archives of Great Britain, the National Archives of the United States in Washington and many others.

As a result of the author's painstaking work with primary sources, gaps in the history of the Congo were filled in and a number of important clarifications were made. It was also possible to take a fresh look at such seemingly commonplace truths related to the death of the national hero of the Congo Emery Patrice Lumumba.

After the declaration of independence of the Congo on June 30, 1960, Belgium used the anti-Belgian sentiments of the Congolese people to destabilize the situation in its former colony. This was followed by the entry of Belgian troops into the Congo and the separation of Katanga, the richest province. President Zh. Kasawubu and Prime Minister P. Lumumba demanded an urgent deployment of UN troops to protect the State territory of the Congo from external aggression that allegedly threatened international peace.

The USSR and the United States agreed on the need for a UN operation in the Congo. The Congolese crisis has become international in nature. The battle for the Congo began, full of drama, the struggle of influential and colorful political figures against the backdrop of a surge of nationalism throughout the African continent, which shocked the world. The author writes: "The Congo descended into chaos sooner than even the most hopeless pessimists expected. Problems arose already on the day of the declaration of independence, June 30, 1960" (p. 33).

In a new way, the author also reflected the period of the "African boom" in the Soviet Union, an unprecedented increase in interest and attention to the Black continent, when any worker or collective farmer knew who Lumumba and his political opponent Tshombe were. The newspapers of that time wrote that "news came from faraway Africa that caused the deepest indignation of all Soviet people" (p. 23).

The USSR consistently supported the normalization of the situation in the Congo, although relations between the two countries were not always cloudless. We provided political, diplomatic and economic support to the Government of P. Lumumba, but it was difficult to resist the aggression and pressure of the United States. The author comes to the conclusion that the Soviet sder-

The instability during the Congolese crisis was due to the fact that the" corridor of opportunities " for the USSR was then very narrow. Our country did not act on the aggravation. N. S. Khrushchev preferred to gradually get out of the Congolese crisis, "preserving the sovereign "face" of the Soviet Union and his own reputation as the most consistent fighter against colonialism and imperialism" (p. 288).

One of the central places in the monograph is occupied by Patris Lumumba , a young charismatic Prime Minister of the independent Congo. Opponents of his bold ideas on the future structure of the country brutally dealt with the national hero. The author of the book describes in detail the tragic fate of P. Lumumba, including the sophisticated techniques used by the security services of the United States and Belgium to harass him. There is no grave of P. Lumumba, almost all his personal belongings and documents were destroyed. Pauline Okampi Lumumba, a widow, recently passed away (December 2014), but the national hero's personality remains compelling. Congolese people honor his memory and even developed a project to build the city of Lumumbavil in his home province of Kasai East.

One of the most interesting historical episodes described in the book by S. V. Mazov is the "battle for Katanga" - a mining province of the DR Congo, which in the XXI century" tends " to secede and become an independent state. The author supports the position of the USSR on separatism in the Congo with strong arguments, describes in detail the UN's unseemly role led by Dag Hammarskjold in the Katanga case, and expresses his point of view on US policy in the Congo.

The illustrated material that the author "pulled out" from the archive storerooms is also noteworthy: rare photos of political figures in our country and the Congo, meetings of workers who spoke out for the freedom of P. Lumumba, as well as forgotten but very eloquent cartoons from the newspaper Pravda and the magazine Crocodile.

The publication of a book is always an event for the author and the scientific world. S. V. Mazov's monograph was published in the year of celebration of the 90th anniversary of P. Lumumba's birth in 2015. This event was reflected in solemn events in a number of centers of African studies in Russia, primarily at the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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