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R.J.'s Book Review: Rhodes: The Race for Africa
Rhodes: The Race for Africa
Copyright: 1996 St. Martin’s Press
ISBN 0-312-16982-5
(This book was the basis for a Masterpiece Theater mini-series.)
Cecil John Rhodes may be the most important man you never heard about if you were educated in the United States of America. His death in 1902 at the age of 48 was followed by the largest memorial every recorded on the continent of Africa. He expanded the British Empire more than any other man; adding almost 1 million square miles (2.6 million square kilometers). His achievement was so great a country larger than most of Europe was named after him. Yet, less than one hundred years later many came to vilify him. His namesake countries has become Zambia and Zimbabwe.
How does a sickly preacher’s son rise to his levels in politics and business? His legacy at de Beers still controls world diamond prices. Rhodes: The Race for Africa looks into these issues with one of the most objective views possible.
Rhodes: The Race for Africa can be a challenging book to read. Most people will be looking up definitions on a regular basis. In addition to the challenging vocabulary, the differences between an American writer and one of British decent are awkward at times.
The book uses many citations in its 352 pages. The bibliography is an excellent resource for anyone wishing to delve more deeply into Cecil Rhodes and the events around his life. Thankfully the citations are just a superscript number and not a longer traditional author/title, page format. This helps the flow for those not immediately concerned about the source material.
The author Anthony Thomas gives us a very well researched and unbiased look at Rhodes. He points out clearly where his information comes from, mostly first hand accounts (primary sources), and what bias the source may have had. On occasion he will look at the opinions of other bibliographers who wrote about Cecil Rhodes. This was interesting to see how attitudes and opinions changed based on the time period and how more was found out about Rhodes. After reading this book you will feel like you have an honest look at Rhodes and what transpired around him.
Nicely dispersed throughout the book are many pictures and a few sketches. It’s a pleasant surprise to turn the page and see a picture of the mining camp or what Jameson’s Raiders looked like at the time. What would have been nice it to have more maps showing the different stages of his expansion. This would be especially helpful for those not intimately familiar with southern African geography.
Chapters are divided into themes or events. Generally easy to follow but a departure from the normal timeline based history (chronological). To Thomas’s credit, where important events overlap in different parts of the book his gives you page references. Also, he writes a brief sentence or two to refresh your memory that is very helpful.
“Every man has his Price,” as Cecil Rhodes was fond of saying.
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