cult of Rhodes

Cecil Rhodes is the most written about and memorialised figure in southern African history, the subject of well over 25 biographies and numerous articles. This book analyses why such a cult developed around Rhodes, who, to all accounts, was far from admirable a person and was open to severe criticism on many fronts. Himself no admirer of Rhodes, the author's approach to the subject is ironical and critical as he sets out to address the paradox of why such an unappealing and 'rather mediocre person' should have been so venerated and commemorated.