Cecil Rhodes remains one of the most controversial figures in southern African history.
To some, he was a visionary whose energy and ambition helped shape the modern region. To others, he was an empire-builder whose actions left a deeply contested legacy.
In this first part of a two-part series, we follow Rhodes from his childhood in Victorian England to the height of his power in southern Africa. Arriving as a sickly teenager in search of a healthier climate, he found opportunity in the diamond fields of Kimberley, built the De Beers mining empire, entered politics and became Prime Minister of the Cape Colony.
Along the way, Rhodes developed ambitions that stretched far beyond diamonds. Driven by an extraordinary belief in the future of the British Empire, he helped push British influence northwards and became one of the most powerful men in Africa.
Yet as gold transformed the Transvaal and Johannesburg rose from the veld, Rhodes found himself facing a challenge that wealth and influence alone could not overcome.
This is the story of Cecil Rhodes’s rise — and the gathering storm that would eventually bring him into conflict with Paul Kruger and the South African Republic.
