by Dan Gordon*
Special to Sutradhar’s Market

In 1877, the British Empire was at the height of its glory, the Spanish Empire would soon collapse, and a young Oxford student named Cecil Rhodes was writhing in the dirt, gripped by a sudden religious vision.

After his madness passed, Rhodes scrawled out a manifesto based on his delirium.  In it, he called for an “Anglo-American Empire” that would begin in the heart of Africa and spread out to conquer the known world.