Diamonds, Gold and War: The Making of South AfricaThe prize was great -- not just land, but the riches it held, in the form of diamonds and gold. What became a country called South Africa was, until 1910, a vast and untamed land where great fortunes could be made (and lost); where great battles were fought (and lost); and where great men had their reputations forged, or dashed, or sometimes both. Martin Meredith's follow-up to his magisterial THE STATE OF AFRICA is an equally epic new history of the making of South Africa. Covering the extraordinarily eventful four decades leading up to the establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910, it covers some of the most iconic tales of imperial history. The Zulus at Rorke's Drift; the Jameson Raid; the diamond and gold rushes at Kimberley and Witwatersrand; the Boer wars; the titanic struggle between the arch-imperialist Cecil Rhodes and his Boer rival, Paul Kruger -- DIAMONDS, GOLD AND WAR brings all of these and more together in a stunningly coherent and compelling narrative. History, somehow, just isn't as colourful any more. |
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Afrikaner Bond annexation army arrived asked Barnato became Bechuanaland Beers Beit Bloemfontein Boer Botha Britain British government Bulawayo burghers camp Cape Colony Cape Town Cape's Cecil Rhodes Chamberlain charter claims Colonial Office colour command concession December decided diamond fields diggers Dutch dynamite Empire England English farm favour FitzPatrick force franchise Gandhi Gold Fields Groote Schuur hands high commissioner Hofmeyr imperial independence interests Jameson Raid Johannesburg Kimberley Kruger labour land letter Lobengula London Lord Mashonaland Matabeleland Merriman miles Milner mining companies missionary Moffat monopoly months Natal native Ndebele official Orange Free Orange River Colony organised parliament peace political politicians population President Pretoria prime minister Radziwill railway reef reform replied Republic Robinson Rudd Salisbury Sauer Schreiner Selous sent settlement shares Shepstone Smuts South Africa southern Africa Steyn Swaziland territory told Transvaal Tswana uitlander Volksraad wanted Wernher Witwatersrand wrote Zulu