LUKA JANTJIE, resistance hero of the South African frontier

306 pp., maps, b/w & colour illus., paperback, London, Johannesburg & New York, 2011

The biography of Luka Jantjie, a leader of the Phuduhutswana branch of the Batlhaping, the southernmost of the Setswana-speaking peoples of southern Africa, the Batswana. Born around 1835, he and his people lived at Dikgatlhong in the Langeberg. When diamonds were discovered in the area Luka Jantjie resisted the colonial invasion into Batlhaping territory and took up arms to defend himself and his people. This struggle culminated in a six-month siege in 1897 which ended with Jantjie's death and beheading.

First published in the UK.

Historian Kevin Shillington's other books include "The Colonisation of the Southern Tswana 1870-1900" and "History of Southern Africa".