Iain Smith's impressive reappraisal of the origins of what used to be known as the Anglo-Boer War is based on extensive work in the British and South African archives. While paying due attention to the roots of the conflict in the pattern of European conquest and settlement in South Africa, he concentrates particularly on the transformations that resulted from the discovery of gold in the Transvaal during the high noon of British imperialism and the scramble for Africa. The mounting conflict of interests between Britain and what had been a poor Boer republic makes a dramatic story with a cast of powerful personalities that includes Rhodes, Chamberlain, Kruger, Smuts and Milner. Iain Smith does it and them full justice in this authoritative and enthralling account of one of the climatic moments in South African and British imperial history