Diamonds, Gold, and War The British, the Boers, and the Making of South Africa

by Meredith, Martin

• ISBN13: 9781586486419
• ISBN10: 1586486411
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-09-23
• Publisher: PublicAffairs

Summary

Southern Africa was once regarded as a worthless jumble of British colonies, Boer republics, and African chiefdoms, a troublesome region of little interest to the outside world. But then prospectors chanced upon the world's richest deposits of diamonds and gold, setting off a titanic struggle between the British and the Boers for control of the land. The result was the costliest, bloodiest, and most humiliating war that Britain had waged in nearly a century, and the devastation of the Boer republics.The New Yorkercalls this magisterial account of those years "[an] astute history.... Meredith expertly shows how the exigencies of the diamond (and then gold) rush laid the foundation for apartheid."

Author Biography

Martin Meredith is a journalist, biographer, and historian who has written extensively on Africa and its recent history. His previous books include Mugabe and The Fate of Africa. He lives near Oxford, England.

Table of Contents

Map	p. xii
Author's Note	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
Diamond Fever	p. 13
Blue Ground	p. 22
Kimberley	p. 33
The Diggers' Revolt	p. 41
Enter the Magnates	p. 50
The Imperial Factor	p. 63
Oom Paul	p. 74
The Washing of Spears	p. 85
Majuba	p. 95
The Diamond Bubble	p. 107
The Stripping Clause	p. 113
Dreams and Fantasies	p. 125
The Road to the North	p. 133
The German Spectre	p. 143
The Most Powerful Company in the World	p. 153
A Chosen People	p. 167
Johannesburg	p. 176
The Corner House	p. 186
A Marriage of Convenience	p. 194
The Place of Slaughter	p. 207
The Balance of Africa	p. 214
To Ophir Direct	p. 229
Kruger's Protectorate	p. 238
Groote Schuur	p. 247
A Bill for Africa	p. 259
Not for Posterity	p. 270
The Loot Committee	p. 279
A Tale of Two Towns	p. 291
The Randlords	p. 302
The Rhodes Conspiracy	p. 311
Jameson's Raid	p. 323
Missing Telegrams	p. 335
By Right of Conquest	p. 354
The Richest Spot on Earth	p. 365
Nemesis	p. 378
The Great Game	p. 386
The Drumbeat for War	p. 403
Ultimatums	p. 416
The Fortunes of War	p. 427
Marching to Pretoria	p. 436
Scorched Earth	p. 449
The Bitter End	p. 462
Envoi	p. 470
The Sunnyside Strategy	p. 481
Vukani Bantu!	p. 494
The Black Ordinance	p. 504
The Sphinx Problem	p. 511
Epilogue	p. 520
Chapter Notes	p. 527
Select Bibliography	p. 539
Index	p. 551
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