Overview

Ruthless and visionary, Cecil Rhodes today personifies all the most extreme characteristics of the Victorian empire-builder. Leaving both a country and a world-famous system of scholarships to commemorate his name, he might have been regarded as proof against personal intrigue. Particularly of the female variety, since - in the jargon of the day - he was a confirmed woman-hater. But when he died, many people said his death had been caused by a woman: the notorious Princess Catherine Radziwill. What was the hold this determined Polish adventurer had over him? This impeccably sourced double biography contains much material never before published and clearly establishes that Catherine's power over Rhodes was political, not sexual. Once she realised that Rhodes's few private emotions were fully satisfied by the group of hefty young men who surrounded him at home, the princess changed her tune. Social importunity having failed, she first demanded money, then began forging Rhodes's name on promissory notes and, finally, resorted to blackmail. Praise for Cecil Rhodes and the Princess: 'Mr. Roberts has written a double biography of Rhodes and Princess Catherine Radziwill . . . the effect is totally engaging. Both subjects are brought vividly to life by Mr Roberts' fine narrative sense and dry humour' - Sunday Telegraph 'The last chapters of the book, in which the crazy duel reaches a climax, make gripping reading. They reveal the inadequacies of earlier biographies' - Observer 'Mr Roberts tells a complicated story well. In Princess Radziwill he has rediscovered a beautiful liar, crook and trouble-maker, as much fun as Trollope's Lizzie Eustace and her stolen diamonds' - New York Times Brian Roberts, a distinguished historian and biographer, is an acknowledged expert on African history. His books include The Zulu Kings, The Diamond Magnates and Churchills in Africa. He spent many years in Africa and now lives in Somerset.

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