The Founder: Cecil Rhodes and the Pursuit of Power - Hardcover

Cecil Rhodes was the dominant figure in 19th-century Southern Africa. It was his acquisition of diamond mines in South Africa that led to the formation of De Beer Ltd, the huge diamond corporation which he led, and he also dominated the gold mines of the region. With his wealth secured, he went on to dominate the political scene, first as premier of the Cape Colony and later as a visionary who saw Britain controlling and claiming all the African territory from Cairo to Capetown. He was a firm believer in white supremacy, and his ideas and policies continue in Southern Africa today. Rotberg creates a portrait of a complicated and compelling personality - a latent homosexual who controlled everything and everyone who came near him; a selfish wealth-seeker whose greatest legacy has been the Rhodes scholarship.

About the Author Robert I. Rotberg is Academic Vice-President for Arts, Sciences, and Technology at Tufts University. A noted authority on Africa, he taught for many years at M.I.T. and Harvard. He has written numerous books about Africa, including Suffer the Future: Policy Choices in Southern Africa (1980), Black Heart: Gore-Browne and the Politics of Multiracial Zambia (1978), The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa (1965), Joseph Thomson and the Exploration of Africa (Oxford, 1971), and Protest and Power in Black Africa (Oxford, 1970). He is himself a former Rhodes Scholar.