Founder: Cecil Rhodes and the Pursuit of Power

A tall, robust-looking, imposing figure, Cecil John Rhodes was a man of many contradictions. Rhodes, the dreamy idealist, called his copy of The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius his "e;most precious possession,"e; while Rhodes, the ruthless businessman, firmly believed in the adage, "e;ev [...]
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A tall, robust-looking, imposing figure, Cecil John Rhodes was a man of many contradictions. Rhodes, the dreamy idealist, called his copy of The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius his "e;most precious possession,"e; while Rhodes, the ruthless businessman, firmly believed in the adage, "e;every man has his price."e; He supported invidious racial laws in South Africa, and invented and sponsored the world-renowned Rhodes Scholarships. Although a man of unprepossessing intellectual talents, he became one of the leading figures in the English-speaking world, the confidant of Queen Victoria and Kaiser Wilhelm, a man of vast wealth and worldwide influence. Based on seventeen years of research, this monumental volume, written by a noted authority on Southern Africa, offers the definitive biography of one of the most controversial figures of the nineteenth century. Vividly capturing the life of a man who was truly larger than life, Robert Rotberg explores Rhodes' childhood and adolescence; depicts his life in mining camps around Kimberley and the Witwatersrand; traces the surreptitious stock buyouts and mergers that allowed Rhodes to gain control over ninety percent of the world's diamond production by age thirty-five; describes his campaigns against African populations that allowed him to establish Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia); and discusses the poorly planned, disastrous raid on the Transvaal that destroyed Rhodes' reputation. The Founder illuminates a complex and fascinating life of both evil and good.