Blood diamonds
DIAMONDS, GOLD AND WAR<br>by Martin Meredith<br>Simon and Schuster, pp 570, ISBN 978-0-7432-8614-5
This being Martin Meredith's third book about South Africa, one would think that by now, the author's pen would have run dry. This couldn't be further from the truth, as Diamonds, Gold and War attests. Although firmly rooted in historical research, the book is anything but a parched account. Indeed the story of how the discovery of diamonds, followed by striking gold, transformed South Africa into its present distinctive shape and character has been told many times before but never with such vivacity.
Focusing solely on the tumultuous period between 1871 and 1910, Mr Meredith's study is filled with colourful characters whose accounts grip the reader and engage them in the story.
Mr Meredith draws the reader into the world of the contradictory, ambiguous and eccentric Cecil Rhodes whom the author treats as the single most influential figure in the story of South Africa. Mr Meredith contrasts Rhodes with the anti-British Paul Kruger (also known as Oom [uncle] Paul) who, although believing the earth was flat, perfectly understood the Briton's imperial ambitions to take over Africa. As with Rhodes who also attempted to rule South Africa, Mr Meredith quotes first-hand descriptions of Kruger such as him being a "shrewd fellow who veils under an assumed clownish manner and affectation of ignorance, considerable ability, (and has) great natural eloquence and powers of persuasion". Such descriptions make the characters rounded and give the novel a certain freshness in comparison to other accounts of history.
Britain occupied the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa during the Napoleonic Wars at the turn of the 19th century. There were already some Dutch and French Huguenot descendants, the Afrikaners, living there.
Under their rule, apartheid was rampant, but when the British arrived (slavery became illegal in the British Empire in 1834), the Afrikaners moved further towards the centre of South Africa, away from the British. There they founded two states: the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (also known as the Transvaal) where they continued to practice their racist laws.
The British and Afrikaners lived relatively happily until, of course, diamonds came in the way. As soon as an enormous supply of diamonds was found in Griqualand, the British lost no time in snatching the Orange Free State for themselves.
To add to the already glittering treasure chest, 15 years later, an English digger discovered an equally enormous deposit of gold in the other Afrikan State, the Transvaal.
A battle which was supposed to last just a few months resulted in a lengthy, two-and-a-half-year brutal and bloody battle with the British trying to gain power over the whole of South of Africa, and the Boers (some Afrikaners refer to themselves as Boers but its precise meaning in South Africa can be ambiguous) doing their utmost to protect their state land. Neither Rhodes's nor Kruger's efforts result in success for the Afrikaners and they do not manage to rule South Africa.
Much of Mr Meredith's story has already been told. Still, Diamonds, Gold and War succeeds in being original as his research includes recent and contemporary sources. In Bob Geldof's words, "you cannot even begin to understand contemporary African politics if you have not read this fascinating book". Diamonds, Gold and War is not only an absorbing account of the British-Boer clash but also explicates from where the tragedy of 20th century South African apartheid originated.
• Ms Stivala has an MSc in Comparative and General Literature from the University of Edinburgh. Although her search for gold and diamonds has as yet proved unsuccessful, she will not be deterred.
• A review copy of this title was supplied by Agenda Bookshop.
Focusing solely on the tumultuous period between 1871 and 1910, Mr Meredith's study is filled with colourful characters whose accounts grip the reader and engage them in the story.
Mr Meredith draws the reader into the world of the contradictory, ambiguous and eccentric Cecil Rhodes whom the author treats as the single most influential figure in the story of South Africa. Mr Meredith contrasts Rhodes with the anti-British Paul Kruger (also known as Oom [uncle] Paul) who, although believing the earth was flat, perfectly understood the Briton's imperial ambitions to take over Africa. As with Rhodes who also attempted to rule South Africa, Mr Meredith quotes first-hand descriptions of Kruger such as him being a "shrewd fellow who veils under an assumed clownish manner and affectation of ignorance, considerable ability, (and has) great natural eloquence and powers of persuasion". Such descriptions make the characters rounded and give the novel a certain freshness in comparison to other accounts of history.
Britain occupied the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa during the Napoleonic Wars at the turn of the 19th century. There were already some Dutch and French Huguenot descendants, the Afrikaners, living there.
Under their rule, apartheid was rampant, but when the British arrived (slavery became illegal in the British Empire in 1834), the Afrikaners moved further towards the centre of South Africa, away from the British. There they founded two states: the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (also known as the Transvaal) where they continued to practice their racist laws.
The British and Afrikaners lived relatively happily until, of course, diamonds came in the way. As soon as an enormous supply of diamonds was found in Griqualand, the British lost no time in snatching the Orange Free State for themselves.
To add to the already glittering treasure chest, 15 years later, an English digger discovered an equally enormous deposit of gold in the other Afrikan State, the Transvaal.
A battle which was supposed to last just a few months resulted in a lengthy, two-and-a-half-year brutal and bloody battle with the British trying to gain power over the whole of South of Africa, and the Boers (some Afrikaners refer to themselves as Boers but its precise meaning in South Africa can be ambiguous) doing their utmost to protect their state land. Neither Rhodes's nor Kruger's efforts result in success for the Afrikaners and they do not manage to rule South Africa.
Much of Mr Meredith's story has already been told. Still, Diamonds, Gold and War succeeds in being original as his research includes recent and contemporary sources. In Bob Geldof's words, "you cannot even begin to understand contemporary African politics if you have not read this fascinating book". Diamonds, Gold and War is not only an absorbing account of the British-Boer clash but also explicates from where the tragedy of 20th century South African apartheid originated.
• Ms Stivala has an MSc in Comparative and General Literature from the University of Edinburgh. Although her search for gold and diamonds has as yet proved unsuccessful, she will not be deterred.
• A review copy of this title was supplied by Agenda Bookshop.