Diamonds, Gold and War: The Making of South Africa Paperback – 7 July 2008

Three words which constitute a very astute description of South Africa's history; Diamonds, Gold and War!! In that order, this is an excellent title and an excellent study of how southern Africa's current regional superpower developed and evolved over a forty year history. I was mightily impressed with Mr. Meredith's work and found it to be both an easily readable and enjoyable account of how modern South Africa came into being. An exciting, depressing, rewarding and bleak tale of miners, natives, Afrikaners and Britishers, all trying to make fame and fortune in a land literally built on money. Glib that statement may be, but heartbreakingly accurate one nonetheless.This is predominantly a narrative history of South Africa covering the last 30 years of the Nineteenth century up until the union of the four main territories in 1910, forming the Union of South Africa. From the 1830s onward, Boer farmers migrated north of the Orange and Vaal rivers to escape British influence and rule. On the way they discovered diamonds then gold and by the 1870s vast tent towns of wealth seekers had been created around the so called diamond and gold fields of the Veld and Witwatersrand. Some got rich, some were broken both financially and physically. Either way, hundreds of private plots were dug in order to find the precious minerals. One of these tent towns was to become the infamous Kimberley, a town whose growth the author documents and describes in detail. Reminiscent of the Wild West of the United States, Kimberley became a den of crime and corruption before big conglomerates chased out the private prospectors, bringing some form of regulation to the place. Indeed, the Boer republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State later faced significant anxiety regarding challenges to their independence from these ruthless diamond and gold hunter groups.The book also weaves in biographies of many figures of South African history with emphasis on two men of the time; Paul Kruger and Cecil Rhodes. Both were determined men committed to their goals of Afrikaner independence and British Empire building respectively. They clashed, they agreed, they led their respective peoples and did their damnedest to prevent the other from reaching their goals. However, both were wily, clever, duplicitous and successful, yet both met unfortunate and lonely ends, feeling aggrieved at their own perceived personal failures. I considered these biographies to be a highlight of Meredith's work as they greatly enhanced my understanding of two of histories influential figures not to mention the country of South Africa itself. I found the life of Kruger to be especially interesting as it gives an insightful view into the mind of the Afrikaner.The author documents the interaction the British/Boers had with the native tribes of southern Africa. The search for mining concessions in lands such as Matabeleland and Bechuanaland, plus the settling of new areas such as Griqualand East and West by the British and also Stellaland and Goshen by the Afrikaners are covered and bring to life the murky dealings and trade offs which were to the detriment of the native peoples of Africa. A fair amount of the author's work is dedicated to this area and is significant in emphasizing the impact it was to have later in South Africa's history, both to 1910 and beyond.The final sections of the book relate to the Boer War of 1899-1902 and the reconciliation which led to the creation of the Union in 1910. The new British chief of the Cape Colony in 1897, Lord Alfred Milner, was Hell Bent on claiming South Africa in the name of the Empire. With obvious contempt and disdain for the Afrikaner peoples, he blatantly provoked both the Transvaal and Orange Free State into conflict, leading to a vicious and painful war. Ironically, Afrikaner nationalism was to receive a huge boost from the conflict with Britain and led to the creation of nationalist organisations such as the National Party and Afrikaner Broederbond, both of whom were to play no small part the formation of the Apartheid movement later in the Twentieth century.Mr. Meredith's book is a joy to read. He covers the build up of the South African nation with in depth descriptions and real enthusiasm. This is a bleak, ruthless portrayal of how capitalism influenced the formation of a nation that was to be plagued with deep psychological divisions and undisguised racism, the impact of which can still be felt today. The author clearly identifies how a racist and nationalist Victorian imperialistic vision was to ultimately trigger the pride of a people, only for it to backfire decades later and be the catalyst for a repeat of much pain and deep racial division.

Good book

I have read several books (though certainly not enough) about South Africa: 'The Great Boer War,' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; 'The Corner House,' by A.P. Cartwright; 'The Randlords,' by Geoffrey Wheatcroft; 'White Tribe Dreaming,' by Marq de Villiers; 'The Boer War,' by Thomas Pakenham; and 'The Covenant,' by James A. Michener, but until I got into my latest purchase, 'Diamonds, Gold and War,' by Martin Meredith, I was not entirely sure why I had become more than sympathetic to the old Boers and to Afrikanerdom.Mr Meredith has given me all of the necessary reasons and, as a life-time admirer of the British Empire and its works, I was made more firmly angry and ashamed at what some of those ostensibly promoting the Empire had done to those to whom the British people should have been attached and who should not have been antagonised and attacked.Cecil Rhodes's dream of colonising from The Cape to Cairo had great merit, especially if one recalls to what depths much of Africa has descended since Rhodes's day, but it was clearly a gross mistake and an unforgivable deed to betray his Cape Boer friend, Jan Hofmeyr, and his potential friends, President Paul Kruger of The Transvaal and President Marthinus Steyn of The Orange Free State. Rhodes comes out of the book badly, as do his co-conspirator, Dr. Leander Starr Jameson, the British Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain, and, worst of all, the British High Commissioner and Governor of the Cape Colony, Sir Alfred Milner.And, of course, there were the thousands of British soldiers lost (my wife's late grandfather, a wonderful man, volunteered for the Imperial Yeomanry, went enthusiastically to South Africa, but, thankfully, survived this shameful Imperial episode), and the thousands of Boer 'soldiers,' their wives and their children who suffered either in the war (to be more precise, the Second Boer War) or in British concentration camps. It was a disgrace and several passages in Mr Meredith's book move one almost to tears. The description of the elderly President Kruger's leaving of Pretoria for eventual exile on the 29th of May, 1900, leaving his beloved but infirm wife, Gezina, is one such and merits partial quotation:'After conducting family prayers in the sitting room, Kruger took his wife's hand and led her into the bedroom. Nobody spoke or moved. Outside the carriage horses snorted. Then the old couple reappeared. Kruger pressed her against him, then released her, looking at her intently, silently. Then he turned and walked out to the carriage. They were never to meet again.'I am old enough to have known a number of honourable men who went off to fight 'Old Kroojer': they were misguided, misled and mistaken. That Jan Christian Smuts later became one of the Empire's best friends is a fine reflection of Boer qualities, but the bitterness bequeathed by such as Milner did no good to Britain nor to the longer-term benefit of South Africa or its inhabitants, black or white.I can only touch on some aspects of a brilliant and well-written history: to get the drift in its entirety, you have to get the book which, with 569 pages, is wonderful value!For a great rendering of the old Boer song, 'Sarie Marais,' sung in Afrikaans, go to -[...]

Enjoyed reading "Diamonds Gold and War" thought it was a very good history of South Africa up till 1910. It was well researched and written and that made it interesting and a pleasure to read. In a nutshell very fine history writing, I would definitely recommend this book

Highly readable and engrossing, Martin Meredith tells the story of the complex, tortured history of the colonisation of the southern half of Africa, including the life of Cecil Rhodes, the Boer War and many less well known aspects vital to understanding the whole. Meredith teases out the tangle of events (many of which were covered in propaganda, lies and concealment at the time) and tries to sort fact from fiction and explain contemporary opinion as well as that of today. Highly recommended.

Old book and also not in good condition so don't buy it

This is a great read, and does a wonderful job of explaining how South Africa ended up the way it did. It's not the most detailed history of the Boer War, but it's not trying to be. It covers a long stretch of history, and explains the long relationship of the Africans, Boers, British, and the diamond and gold industries. The author provides a fascinating narrative, the pages fly by.

This well researched book provides a detailed look at the discovery of gold and diamonds in South Africa and the consequences that were visited on that unhappy country.It demonstrates how, over a century ago, a powerful nation could easily come up with largely spurious reasons to invade a small country and secure access to some of the richest goldfields in the world. As it turned out, they bit off a lot more than they could chew. Also they could not find any weapons of mass destruction!Mr Meredith has written extensively on Africa and pulls no punches. His books Mugabe and The Fate of Africa are essential reading for anyone interested in Africa. Mugabe: Power, Plunder, and the Struggle for Zimbabwe's FutureMugabe: Power, Plunder, and the Struggle for Zimbabwe's Future

Very detailed book

I liked this book quite a bit. The narrative was clear and concise and included fine personality profiles of the main characters. My only complaint is the absence of maps. The only map (and one that contained little detail) of South Africa was at the very beginning, so when reading about the movement of people and troops it was necessary to jump back to a bookmarked map.