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Sir Roger Casement is remembered chiefly as an Irishpatriot, hanged by the British for treason for his part in the rebellion of1916. As Jordan Goodman reminds us, Casement had previously been known as aBritish diplomat with a conscience, “the most universally lauded investigatorof human rights abuses of his day.” The indefatigable Casement had helpeduncover the cruel slavery of the Congo Free State,where millions of Africans were killed or maimed by the pitiless overseers ofrubber plantations. The Devil and Mr.Casement
recounts a less remembered episode: Casement’s investigation of amurderous British-based rubber company that exploited natives in the Amazon.Goodman’s journalistic narrative is a reminder of the devastation that greedcan cause and the good work that can be done by a few good men.