The Cult of Rhodes: Remembering an Imperialist in Africa

Why a cult should have developed around Rhodes, who, to all accounts, was far from admirable a person is the subject of this book. The author 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 explored in this context, including the imprint of Rhodes' ecological imperialism on the natural environment, the debunking of Rhodes after World War II, the surprising silence from Afrikaners and Africans in critical studies of Rhodes, and the (rather strange) link-up between the Rhodes Trust and the Mandela Foundation. Rhodes' memory, meanwhile, has been deliberately, sometimes violently, erased in the country once named after him, where his grave still remains in close proximity with that of the great Ndebele king Mzilikazi.Maylam, Paul is the author of 'The Cult of Rhodes: Remembering an Imperialist in Africa' with ISBN 9780864866844 and ISBN 0864866844.