A work of political satire harshly condemnatory of his actions, it ostensibly recounts a fictional monologue of Leopold II speaking in his own defense.

King Leopold II raves madly about the good things that he says he has done for the people of the Congo Free State, including the disbursement of millions on religion and art.

Leopold II says that he did not take any of the government money, that he did not use the revenues as his personal "swag", and that such claims by the "meddlesome American missionaries", "frank British consuls", and "blabbing Belgian-born traitors" are wholly false.

The book mentions the critical report by the missionary William Henry Sheppard on an 1899 massacre of over 80 people by Zappo Zaps sent to collect taxes.

[4] The American publisher P. R. Warren Company from Boston, donated all surplus to relief and aid in the Congo atrocities.