Book

The Founder

: Cecil Rhodes and the Pursuit of Power

Cecil Rhodes was an imposing figure, tall, robust-looking, with a leonine head, a man so charismatic that one contemporary claimed that "belief in Rhodes was a substitute for religion." But he was certainly a man of contradictions. He was a dreamy idealis

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Cecil Rhodes (7)

“I’m far too busy to have a wife and children. What would I know about nappies and so forth? No, no – I prefer to build empires rather than families!”

— Cecil Rhodes, amazon.com

Tagged: Marriage, Family, Nappies, Diapers, Empire

“I wanted to conquer Rhodesia because I truly believe that Africa would be happier, richer and safer as part of the British Empire. People say that this empire-building was all about ‘taking’ and ‘stealing’: but life in Rhodesia was very good – even for the people we conquered.”

— Cecil Rhodes, amazon.com

Tagged: Imperialism, Africa, Colonialism, British Empire, Rhodesia

“For a little while I made myself Prime Minister of South Africa, but I find politics very slow and boring really.”

— Cecil Rhodes, amazon.com

Tagged: South Africa, Politics, Boring

“Personally, I’ve never killed anyone in my life. I’ve never even shot a lion! But when I hear that people are resisting British rule, what am I supposed to say to my soldiers?”

— Cecil Rhodes, amazon.com

Tagged: Murder, War, British Rule, British Empire

“People say I ‘stole’ gold and diamonds from Africa – but before I got there no one seemed to show interest in these natural resources. Besides, every single rock and nugget of gold I took out of the ground I had a legal right to: I bought the land from the colonial government – and, remember, I also…”

— Cecil Rhodes, amazon.com

Tagged: Imperialism, gold, Diamonds, Queen

“When I left England for the first time in 1871 much of the world had already been colonised by Britain: Australia in 1770; India in 1757, and Canada in 1763. South Africa, however, was only partly controlled by Britain, and I saw this as a place where I might become as famous as Captain Cook, Robert…”

— Cecil Rhodes, amazon.com

Tagged: England, Colonialism, Imperialism, Canada, Britain

“I wish these history teachers would be more accurate! I did not ‘conquer South Africa’ – I conquered the land to the north of the present country of South Africa: a place that was named, in my honour, Rhodesia.”

— Cecil Rhodes, amazon.com

Tagged: South Africa, Rhodesia, Imperialism, Colonialism