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The Colonialist: The Vision of Cecil Rhodes

By (author) William Kelleher Storey

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This first comprehensive biography of Cecil Rhodes in a generation illuminates Rhodesâ€™s vision for the expansion of imperialism in southern Africa, connecting politics and industry to internal development, and examines how this fueled a lasting, white-dominated colonial society. Rhodes was one of the most influential people in the history of the British Empire. He made a fortune by leading the worldâ€™s most important diamond mining company, De Beers, as well as gold-mining concern Consolidated Gold Fields. He was a member of the Cape Colonyâ€™s legislature and served as prime minister from 1890 to 1896, a key period for the development of racial discrimination. His British South Africa Company was given a charter to govern what is today Zambia and Zimbabwe. A complex figure, admired and detested in his own time, Rhodes dreamt to unite Southern Africaâ€™s colonies and republics into one state, dominated by white settlers, with labour provided by Black people who were constrained and pressured by discriminatory laws. In 1895 and 1896, he encouraged a failed plot to overthrow the independent Boer republic in the Transvaal. Rhodesâ€™ coup helped to precipitate the South African War, which started in 1899 and ended in 1902, the year of Rhodes' death. This authoritative biography focuses on the relationship between Rhodesâ€™ well-known activities in business and politics and the development of Southern Africa's infrastructure, most famously his plan for a Cape-to-Cairo railway. Rhodes envisioned a region where racism became embedded in the mining, farming, communication, and transportation industries. He pursued this vision in the face of opposition from many quarters. Understanding the extent of Rhodesâ€™ activities helps us to understand the challenges of modern Africa and the recent Rhodes Must Fall movement. A critical analysis of this contested figure, The Colonialist offers an original portrait of a crucial figure of his era.