Masked Raiders - (Reconsiderations in Southern African History) by Charles Van Onselen (Hardcover)
About this item
Highlights
- Before the railway system linked South Africa's major cities in the mid-1890s, the country was largely dependent on a horse-drawn economy.
- About the Author: Charles van Onselen, Research Professor at the University of Pretoria, is author of The Cowboy Capitalist: John Hays Hammond, the American West, and the Jameson Raid in South Africa, among other books.
- 264 Pages
- History, Africa
- Series Name: Reconsiderations in Southern African History
Description
About the Book
"First published 2020 by Protea Book House, South Africa" -- Title page verso.Book Synopsis
Before the railway system linked South Africa's major cities in the mid-1890s, the country was largely dependent on a horse-drawn economy. Diamonds from Griqualand West and gold from the Witwatersrand were transported by coach and horses to distant ports for export. For some Irish soldiers based at Fort Napier in Pietermaritzburg, this temptation proved impossible to resist: they deserted in droves and, as members of what later became known as the criminal "Irish Brigade," they embarked on a spree of bank, safe, and highway robberies across southern Africa.
With tales of heists, safe-cracking, illegal gold dealings, prison breaks, and hidden roadside treasure, Masked Raiders follows the exploits of legendary Irish brigands such as the McKeone brothers and "One-Armed Jack" McLoughlin, who ravaged the subcontinent, from the mining towns of Barberton, Kimberley, and Johannesburg to the borders of Basotholand, Bechuanaland, Mozambique, and Rhodesia in the years leading up to the Jameson Raid in South Africa.
Review Quotes
In this captivating and original volume, Charles van Onselen, leading social historian of the Witwatersrand, brings vividly to life this vanished world of transport riders, gold smugglers, gun-runners, dynamiters, crooked police, and highwaymen. The South African frontier, imperial Britain's own Wild West, was as violent as any on earth. Even the townscapes, saloons, and stagecoaches replicated their American archetypes.
-- "Times Literary Supplement"About the Author
Charles van Onselen, Research Professor at the University of Pretoria, is author of The Cowboy Capitalist: John Hays Hammond, the American West, and the Jameson Raid in South Africa, among other books.
