Cape to Cairo - Mark Strage

Published by Penguin Books Limited: Middlesex, England, 1977.
First published 1973.

This is a book that took a long time to get through, partially because it is quite dense, and partially because it was the book I was reading while we were in the process of moving from my parents' house in Monaco to our new house in central Stoke. When you're busy packing and unpacking boxes, it can get in the way of turning pages...

The topic of Cape to Cairo is quite interesting, though. In various sections - based on sections of railway track - it traces the history of the attempt at building a cross-African railroad from Cape Town all the way to Cairo, originally envisioned to show the spread and power of the British Empire. Each section covers a period of time and shows not only the building of the railway, but everything leading up to that point. This adds to the denseness of the book, and - although the book's focus is clear - also means that it can feel a little disjointed at times, or even like a series of books rolled into one.

This impression is made stronger by the existence of Cecil Rhodes. A name that I had heard, but not one that I knew much about, Cecil Rhodes as an individual stands incredibly large. The fact that during his lifetime he had two countries named after him(!) gives some sense of his outsized influence on the Southern African region, and the supplementary fact that he was a driving force for the railway in this area means he features heavily in the first few sections of the book...

...and then the focus shifts to the northern end of the railroad, and Cecil disappears almost entirely from the narrative. 

This shift is important to follow the 'train' of thought that the book wants to focus on (hehe), but also means that it feels like a hard reset - particularly because northern Africa has its own layers of history that must be unpacked before the railway can take centre-stage again.

The book is also interesting because of the time period it was written in, the 1970s. With apartheid still in place, Rhodes and the 'white Saviour' narrative is somewhat upheld, but it is also apparent that author Strage has some concerns about it. Rhodes is therefore glorified for his achievements and criticised for his failings... this is good but it is also slightly different than how I think we would report on him as an historical figure now.

So, overall, I enjoyed this book, found it at times a bit dated or uncomfortable, and was happy when I finally finished it, surrounded by boxes of half-unpacked stuff, in our new home.

Completed 23 July 2026.

Previous Book ~ Next Book

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