Antony Thomas's biography of Cecil Rhodes is a brilliant study of one of the nineteenth century's major historical figures. At its heart is the story of Britain's race for Africa, but Rhodes's own story is that of a young man corrupted by the pursuit of power and driven by the knowledge that his life would be short.
In his short thirty-year career he added nearly a million square miles to Britain's African empire, gave his name to a country, and at 34 ,created a company - De Beers - which achieved virtual monopoly of the world's diamond production. He then went on to make a second fortune in gold. He laid the foundations of apartheid and drew Britain into the Boer War, the costliest and bloodiest war it was to fight between Waterloo and the First World War.
Yet today, little is known about this extraordinary man save for the Rhodes scholarships which appear to be his only lasting memorial.
