Acknowledgements

      This book draws heavily on the published work of many historians with far more knowledge and insight than I possess. I have learnt a great deal particularly from Tim Keegan, Basil Le Cordeur, Jeff Peires, Clifton Crais and especially Julie Wells, whose brilliant analysis of the Battle of Grahamstown fired my imagination. Walking with her on occasions through the forests of the Fish River valley and the desolate coast of Cove Rock has deepened my appreciation of the history of the Xhosa. The book has also benefited from the help of numerous people including all those who gave up their time, agreed to be interviewed, and trusted me with their opinions and experiences. I am particularly grateful to Kate Rowntree, who helped me find the source of the Kowie River, Chris Mann, whose poems about the river have been inspirational, and Helen Bradford, who gave much advice and spent hours in the Cape Town archives looking for photographs for this book. Thanks also to Candace Feit, Jo and Jaxon Rice and David Stott for the wonderful photographs, and all the other friends who read the whole or parts of the manuscript and commented helpfully, including Eddie Webster, David Fig, Glenn Moss, Georgina Jaffe, Malvern van Wyk Smith, Patricia Milliken, Nicholas Scarr, Michelle Williams, Vishwas Satgar, Dorothy Driver, Karl von Holdt, Tony Dold, Judith Hawarden and Kathie Satchwell. Several friends helped with difficult technical issues, especially Karin Pampallis, Brittany Kesselman and Ingrid Chunwill. I am also very grateful for the comments of two anonymous reviewers, which were extremely helpful, to my editor, Russell Martin, and to Hazel Cuthbertson and Roshan Cader of Wits University Press.