The Last Empire

This history of the diamond mining industry in South Africa chronicles the diamond rush that transformed Johannes De Beer's humble 19th-century South African farmstead into an exotic Klondike. Kanfer recounts the rise of wild frontier towns like New Rush (now Kimberley) and Johannesburg, and their roisterous mix of plutocrats and prostitutes, gamblers and politicians, and the developing power of Cecil Rhodes, who would rule both Cape Colony and De Beers. The book depicts the roots of the racial crisis in the developing land - the misery of black miners and the fortunes of white prospectors. The book covers the diamond industry right up to the very latest development, focusing on De Beers monopoly on the world scene as an empire of unmatched global reach, the cause of so much recent controversy. Stefan Kanfer is the author of "A Journal of the Plague Years" and "A Summer World".