Cecil Rhodes and His Time

by Apollon Davidson

Overview

Davidson has eschewed the dry, academic style normally associated with works of history and in his endeavor to penetrate to the heart of Rhodes’ age, to explain why this man, so ordinary in many ways, should have become the object of a veneration almost unparalleled in British history so that not only streets and towns but entire countries bore his name.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781919825243
Publisher:	Protea Boekhuis
Publication date:	03/29/2012
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	391
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Prof. APOLLON DAVIDSON was born in 1929. He obtained his Masters degree in History at the Leningrad University in 1953 and his Ph.D. at the Institute of Universal History in 1958. In 1971 he obtained his second doctoral degree at the Institute for Asian and African Studies, Moscow Lomonossov University. Davidson is a prominent Russian Africanist, author of seven monographs, and editor of numerous books on Southern and Tropical Africa. He is also the author of several hundred articles and a number of university syllabuses on African history. He was the first to lecture on African History in Moscow Lomonossov University, where he has been lecturing since 1962.

Editorial Reviews

Appollon, a historian, presents a biography of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes within historical context and in relation to how he represented the age of increased colonialism in the late nineteenth century. He details Rhodes' childhood, his gold and diamond mining in South Africa, his political activity, and his efforts to expand the British Empire to South Africa, including his experiences with various African tribes and rival European states, the creation of the British South Africa Chartered Company, his military campaigns and wars against the Ndebele and Afrikaners, and the creation of Rhodesia, followed by uprisings against him by the Shona and Ndebele, the Anglo-Boer War, and ending with his death. The book was first published in 1984 for Russian readers and was translated by Christopher English in 2003; it is available in the US for the first time.

'A major study which uses a multitude of archive and other little-known materials to recreate the tumultuous atmosphere of the time, and to highlight key philosophical and moral issues.'

'To the palate accustomed to the dry, astringent wine served up by British historians, Davidson’s brew may seem a little heady, but to the ordinary reader it will make refreshing change and the scholarly value of the book is in no way diminished by his method.'

From the Publisher

"A major study which uses a multitude of archive and other little-known materials to recreate the tumultuous atmosphere of the time, and to highlight key philosophical and moral issues."

Novy Mir

"To the palate accustomed to the dry, astringent wine served up by British historians, Davidson’s brew may seem a little heady, but to the ordinary reader it will make refreshing change and the scholarly value of the book is in no way diminished by his method."

Harare The Sunday Mail

"Appollon, a historian, presents a biography of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes within historical context and in relation to how he represented the age of increased colonialism in the late nineteenth century. He details Rhodes' childhood, his gold and diamond mining in South Africa, his political activity, and his efforts to expand the British Empire to South Africa, including his experiences with various African tribes and rival European states, the creation of the British South Africa Chartered Company, his military campaigns and wars against the Ndebele and Afrikaners, and the creation of Rhodesia, followed by uprisings against him by the Shona and Ndebele, the Anglo-Boer War, and ending with his death. The book was first published in 1984 for Russian readers and was translated by Christopher English in 2003; it is available in the US for the first time."

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