Rhodes and his banker. Empire, wealth and the coming of union
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Johannesburg
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Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902) and his Banker is an account of the remarkable friendship between a larger-than-life historical figure and the modest, unassuming banker Sir Lewis Michell (1842–1928), both of whom were personally involved in all the major political and financial developments in Southern Africa during the closing decades of the 19th century. The financial institution that brought diamond and gold magnate Cecil John Rhodes and Sir Lewis Michell together – the Standard Bank – was at the heart of the country's rapid transformation from an agricultural backwater to an industrial powerhouse thanks to the discovery of diamonds and gold. Richard Steyn intertwines the stories of Rhodes and Michell, chronicling the growth of the Standard Bank under Lewis Michell's careful stewardship and the seemingly irresistible rise of Rhodes, rapacious entrepreneur and empire-builder. He situates Cecil Rhodes and Lewis Michell at the high noon of the British Empire, a time when the benefits of British rule seemed self-evident to its ruling elite. Lewis Michell became Rhodes's trusted confidant and published the first posthumous biography of 'the Colossus'. The banker's position gave him a unique insight into the character and motives of this most controversial and self-driven of British imperialists. Lewis Michel also did everything he could to fulfil Cecil Rhodes's ambition for a united South Africa and played a key role in setting up the Rhodes Scholarships, perhaps the most enduring legacy of Rhodes's career.
