"This is a true story of our times, and all times, splendidly told.  For even one who has no interest either in Africa or Cecil Rhodes will find this book a remarkable achievement, because its theme is no less than universal: a mystery of the human personality ... Antony Thomas explores the man's amazing life with lively intelligence, scrupulously fair and informed insight, and a deep understanding of the influences on the subsequent history of Southern Africa this rogue-adventurer, romantic mining Midas, statesman, racist, hero of imperialism has had."               

Nadine Gordimer, Nobel Laureate

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"A book of substance, which ought to be widely read."                        

Ronald Segal, THE OBSERVER

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"Intelligent, detailed, well-researched and credibly nuanced ... adult and historically sensitive ... The picture that persuasively emerges ... [is] of a man of immense charm and demonic single-mindedness ... But Thomas does not allow his animosity towards Rhodes to stand in the way of his admiration for the empire-builder's remarkable, occasionally heroic, achievements."                                                                                                          

John Carlin, THE INDEPENDENT

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"Informative, lively ... fascinating"                                           

James Smethurst, CHICAGO TRIBUNE

 

 “Antony Thomas's book is so good ... The detail is penetrating, incisive, insightful ... An accurate historical picture of the times [and] nobody is spared.”                                               

Alex Auswaks, JERUSALEM POST

 

"Antony Thomas brings fine credentials to the task of assessing Rhodes' impact on Southern Africa and the British Empire ... The book covers the right territory and brings a good deal of the essential experience to life."

Dennis Judd, NEW STATESMAN

 

"A biography I really would recommend."                                      

Tony Palmer, BBC RADIO THREE

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"A few [biographies] soar above the field, and like Dr. Frankenstein bring the dead to life.  This is such a book, exposing the essential greatness and the pathetic weakness of a turn-of-the-century man who left on the globe a deep wound that is only now beginning to heal.

Geoffrey Campbell, FORT WORTH MORNING STAR-TELEGRAM

 

"Antony Thomas's book challenges whole swathes of the traditional version of British imperial history in Africa ... a gripping narrative, it draws upon a wide range of material, published and unpublished, and presents Rhodes's life on the scale of a classical tragedy."

Canon Wilkinson, CHURCH TIMES

 

SOUTH AFRICAN REVIEWS

 

"Brilliant ... A comprehensive biography, not to mention the beautifully reproduced illustrations ... A better read than most fiction."                                                                                  

Mary Jordan, BUSINESS DAY

 

"Exciting ... fascinating ... visual.  Antony Thomas is a film-maker and he treats his subject and the places he goes with a film-maker's eye. "Rhodes" is likely to be a popular book."

Margaret Von Klemperer, NATAL WITNESS

 

"Few of the earlier [biographies] have been as insightful as this, the newest and most compelling of works ... All the characters in South African history books live again in the pages of Thomas' biography."                 

Winnie Graham, THE STAR