E. I. Sokolov (Edited by)
In the 17th-century the small, highly-populated, European countries were increasingly empire-building in distant places. The Dutch already had a rudimentary colony in South Africa, established to service their trading ships en route to the exotic East. But it wasn't efficient enough. The Commander of the time: van Riebeek, was told to 'expel the Hottentots' ( the indigenous black population) from the lush Liesbeeck valley, 'occupy it, fence it, fortify it, till it, set up outposts, and start farming.' And so began the conquest of Southern Africa ('the Cape'), the island of Mauritius, and the notorious Robben Island; the Colony's birth and infancy, and the families who made it their home there - particularly the story of Pieternella, daughter of the first mixed marriage, and her descendants. The dedication of the author to this monumental account of the Dutch (and later, English) invasion of the African continent is immense. What took place then, and there, was to reverberate down the years to this very date. (Kirkus UK)