RHODES AND HIS BANKER, empire, wealth and the coming of Union

300pp., illus., map, paperback, Johannesburg, 2024

Richard Steyn on the friendship between empire-builder and entrepreneur Cecil John Rhodes and his banker Sir Lewis Michell, General Manager of the Standard Bank of South Africa. Michell did everything he could to fulfil Rhodes’ ambition for a united South Africa, published the first posthumous biography of Rhodes, and played a key role in setting up the Rhodes Scholarship programme.

Richard Steyn is the author of Jan Smuts: Unafraid of greatness (2015) and Louis Botha: A man apart (2018). He practised as a lawyer before switching to journalism. Steyn edited the Natal Witness in Pietermaritzburg (1975–1990), was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University (1985 – 1986) and editor-in-chief of The Star (1990–1995). He served as Standard Bank’s Director of Corporate Affairs from 1996–2001.