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Frontiers: The Epic of South Africa's Creation and the Tragedy of the Xhosa People
The story of the nine 'Kaffir' wars, fought in the 18th and 19th centuries between the whites and the Xhosa nation, form the heart of this astonishing book. In a comparatively small area of land, eastwards from the Cape, on territory demarcated by the Great Fish and the Great Kai Rivers. It was here that the crucial frontier was variously to be found - the volatile border where colonial expansion met local intransigence and brutal warfare proved the only solution to the impasse.
Noel Mostert vivdly recounts this momentous story and its appalling aftermath - the self-immolation of the Xhosa. His starting point is the arrival of the first visitors to the Cape, the Portugeuse, in 1492. In an epilogue he observes that the end of the wars did not mean the end of the agony, but rather a legacy of pain and anger that to this day shapes South African society.
Noel Mostert vivdly recounts this momentous story and its appalling aftermath - the self-immolation of the Xhosa. His starting point is the arrival of the first visitors to the Cape, the Portugeuse, in 1492. In an epilogue he observes that the end of the wars did not mean the end of the agony, but rather a legacy of pain and anger that to this day shapes South African society.
1355 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1992
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About the author
Noël Mostert
5 books12 followersNoël Mostert was a historian and author. He is best known for his 1974 best-seller "Supership," which examined the oil shipping trade.
Mostert began his writing career as a journalist, and was a parliamentary correspondent, a foreign correspondent, and a New York columnist.
Mostert began his writing career as a journalist, and was a parliamentary correspondent, a foreign correspondent, and a New York columnist.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 10, 2014
An epic in every sense of the word. This, for me, was a life changing book. Mostert's description of the part of the world I grew up in is charged, and one cannot walk through parts of the Eastern Cape without feeling a deep sense of unease at the layers of tragic history buried here in this ambiguous and beguiling corner of this earth. The confluence of human history collided profoundly here, and twelve years after reading this book I still marvel at Mostert's achievement.
I have re-read it twice since then. It should be required reading for all those English-speaking White South Africans who still blame it all on the Afrikaners.
I have re-read it twice since then. It should be required reading for all those English-speaking White South Africans who still blame it all on the Afrikaners.
March 21, 2007
A masterpiece. This is as moving as history can be written. By the time you are done, that face on the cover will be permanently etched in your mind and on your soul.
May 26, 2018
As someone fascinated by the history of South Africa, Frontiers is my favourite South African historical work. The Frontiers the book refer to are the successive Frontier Wars fought primarily between the British and the Xhosa in the Eastern Cape during the late 18th and throughout the 19th century, with at times Boer and Khoisan involvement. My passion for the book arises from the fact that I spent my formative years in the Eastern Cape just over 100 years after the tragic Cattle Killing that led to the final collapse of Xhosa power in 1858 in the face of British imperial pressure. Reading Frontiers explained in compelling detail and with considerable eloquence how the situation around me had come to be as I grew up as a member of the British group in the narrative amongst the descendants of the Xhosa, Boers and Khoisan. It is an epic work of historical story telling which in recounting the great sweep of the turbulent history of the clash between the colonial and Xhosa groupings, as a friend also from the Eastern Cape to whom I recommended the book memorably indicated, presents "a rolling epiphany." The book appeared in 1992 and thus was not in a position to recount the culmination of the dynamic set in motion by the explosive encounter between British, Boer, Xhosa and Khoisan, as scions of the Xhosa, Nelson Mandela, Oliver Thambo, Thabo Mbeki, Winnie Mandela and Chris Hani finally achieved freedom for all in South Africa. Reading the book nevertheless explained why so many of the leading figures in the struggle for liberation, not forgetting Robert Sobukwe and Steve Biko, came from the Eastern Cape.
June 3, 2013
Noel Mostert did an absolutely amazing job with Frontiers: The Epic of South Africa's Creation and the Tragedy of the Xhosa People. It was brilliantly written and extremely well researched. As a dreadful history for the Xhosa and the complete insensitivity and callousness of the English and brutish behavior of the Dutch. Such remarkable people as still paying for the Colonial madness of Europe.
August 13, 2017
Another exceptional read by Mostert. His focus in this epic work traces the origins of first the bushmen and then the negroid people in South Africa. He shares with avid detail and exceptional grasp, the culture and history of the Bantu people, and especially the Xhosa tribes during their 100 years of war with the British. For the British, the sad tale continues of the tragic impact of their imperialism across the 19th century and how this again laid the foundations for conflicts that continue to the present. I love the careful narrative about exceptional leaders among the Xhosa, the boers, missionaries, and British. Heroic and tragic, this is a beautiful story about an unforgettable people and land.
April 11, 2018
Well, it has taken me over a year to complete this book. It seemed like many years to Mostert to research and write this volume. It was one of the most comprehensive books on a nation's history that I have read in many years. It was well written and at times a difficult read. The author has captured all of the beauty and violence that has made the country what it is today ---- good and bad.
What I enjoyed were the many teaching moments that the book provided, such as: Batavia is synonymous with Jakarta, Indonesia; Hottentots was made up term by Europeans unable to say KhoiKoi, the tribe which was driven nearly to extinction by the Dutch and others; Robben Island was principally set as penal colony by the Dutch; the Dutch and its East India Company was the principal European country that invaded South Africa. Africa was a land grab by the European countries on those people who dealt with the acquisition and use of land and territory by means other than European contracts. It deals with the advancement technology against those people who attempted to counter the use of cannon shells and bullets with assegais. It deals with the efforts the Dutch settlers, the London Missionary Society and other Christian organizations to convert heathen savages (in the Christian referrals).
The book principally looks at the British history of conquest of South Africa from its usurpation of the territory from the Dutch to the English loss of the territory to victorious Boers in the early 20th century. The nine wars fought by the indigenous people are the highlight of the book. The author also explains the strategy of European missionaries to convert savage heathens (European terms) to the European model of belief in God.
It started with the Dutch who had no concept of why indigenous people wore animal skins, painted their bodies or wore near nothing at all in the areas of the African heat. The Dutch (Boers) attempted to use the Indian Ocean coast line as way station to on the road to Batavia, India and China. During the early period the Boers attempted to trade with African for meat and water. Some decided to stay and integrate with the tribes that surrounded them. Those Boers who stayed and did not integrate immediately began to subjugate the tribes principally the KhoiKoi, who felt that they could deal with anyway that liked.
The British on the other hand was all about Imperial rule, expansion of the Empire under the guise of God, Queen (at that time) country. Nazis Germany's room the breathe, so to speak. It was all of the Duke of Wellington's men. The very conservative Duke and his military officers were often given the task of administering colonial rule. My view of book is the soldiers were to acquire the land, the British colonists were sent to farm it and the missionaries were sent to convert the tribes so that they would submit to British authority. Unfortunately, the many tribes of South Africa and their many chiefs and concubines made it easy for the British to divide and conquer. The missionaries that came assisted. The trade-off was the teaching of African natives to read and write --- not in their own language, but in English. British missionaries seemed pre-occupied with the tribes multiple wives concept, the lack of clothing in the African climate and the worship of spirits, true Christians. In the end, many Africans considered the clergy tools of an invading force. My opinion is that they are.
One of the biggest areas of contentions was cattle rustling, a US term. Europeans were principally meat eaters. Accusations of cattle theft lead to many skirmishes. The annexation of the land through force for farmers caused Xhosa peoples to leave much of the farm land and grazing areas that had been in their tribes since the millennium.
British laws were passed under colonial rule that essentially made indigenous people foreigners in the own country. Pass laws were enacted to confine Xhosa and other races to the territories were they were forced to move, exploitation of labor for farming and mining (under very poor wages). These were some of the foundations of the apartheid system, where the wealth was controlled by one race and the cheap labour forced from the other.
The breakdown of the tribal family structure left the Xhosa to place faith, not Christian, in salvation from strange sources. It also forced them to believe that destruction of their sources of sustenance was to be their delivery from British and Boer rule.
What I enjoyed were the many teaching moments that the book provided, such as: Batavia is synonymous with Jakarta, Indonesia; Hottentots was made up term by Europeans unable to say KhoiKoi, the tribe which was driven nearly to extinction by the Dutch and others; Robben Island was principally set as penal colony by the Dutch; the Dutch and its East India Company was the principal European country that invaded South Africa. Africa was a land grab by the European countries on those people who dealt with the acquisition and use of land and territory by means other than European contracts. It deals with the advancement technology against those people who attempted to counter the use of cannon shells and bullets with assegais. It deals with the efforts the Dutch settlers, the London Missionary Society and other Christian organizations to convert heathen savages (in the Christian referrals).
The book principally looks at the British history of conquest of South Africa from its usurpation of the territory from the Dutch to the English loss of the territory to victorious Boers in the early 20th century. The nine wars fought by the indigenous people are the highlight of the book. The author also explains the strategy of European missionaries to convert savage heathens (European terms) to the European model of belief in God.
It started with the Dutch who had no concept of why indigenous people wore animal skins, painted their bodies or wore near nothing at all in the areas of the African heat. The Dutch (Boers) attempted to use the Indian Ocean coast line as way station to on the road to Batavia, India and China. During the early period the Boers attempted to trade with African for meat and water. Some decided to stay and integrate with the tribes that surrounded them. Those Boers who stayed and did not integrate immediately began to subjugate the tribes principally the KhoiKoi, who felt that they could deal with anyway that liked.
The British on the other hand was all about Imperial rule, expansion of the Empire under the guise of God, Queen (at that time) country. Nazis Germany's room the breathe, so to speak. It was all of the Duke of Wellington's men. The very conservative Duke and his military officers were often given the task of administering colonial rule. My view of book is the soldiers were to acquire the land, the British colonists were sent to farm it and the missionaries were sent to convert the tribes so that they would submit to British authority. Unfortunately, the many tribes of South Africa and their many chiefs and concubines made it easy for the British to divide and conquer. The missionaries that came assisted. The trade-off was the teaching of African natives to read and write --- not in their own language, but in English. British missionaries seemed pre-occupied with the tribes multiple wives concept, the lack of clothing in the African climate and the worship of spirits, true Christians. In the end, many Africans considered the clergy tools of an invading force. My opinion is that they are.
One of the biggest areas of contentions was cattle rustling, a US term. Europeans were principally meat eaters. Accusations of cattle theft lead to many skirmishes. The annexation of the land through force for farmers caused Xhosa peoples to leave much of the farm land and grazing areas that had been in their tribes since the millennium.
British laws were passed under colonial rule that essentially made indigenous people foreigners in the own country. Pass laws were enacted to confine Xhosa and other races to the territories were they were forced to move, exploitation of labor for farming and mining (under very poor wages). These were some of the foundations of the apartheid system, where the wealth was controlled by one race and the cheap labour forced from the other.
The breakdown of the tribal family structure left the Xhosa to place faith, not Christian, in salvation from strange sources. It also forced them to believe that destruction of their sources of sustenance was to be their delivery from British and Boer rule.
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June 24, 2023A most valuable read in understanding why South Africa has been and is where it is today. Sorry I took so long to get around to reading this volume, I have owned it for about thirty years. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to understand this part of Africa and also to understanding the British Empire and its relationship with its colonies during this period in history.
June 22, 2025
This is a long book and it took me a long time to read so I feel compelled to write something here to mark the occasion.
I would divide the book into three sections although Mostert divides it into five. The first takes us from the dawn of man to the first contact between Europeans and Xhosa in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. The third section is very hard reading and describes the advent of a millenial cult among the Xhosa in the mid 1800s and then continues up to the advent of apartheid and a postscript which describes the funeral of Steve Biko in 1977.
The problem and the promise is the giant second section: an incredibly detailed and deeply researched account of the frontier wars during which European colonists pushed the Xhosa further and further east on various pretexts but essentially in order to dispossess them of their land and cattle. As a recreational non-fiction reader this is a bit problematic since it is hard to keep all the people, places and events straight especially when reading lots of other things in between. In the end despite committing so much time to the task one feels a bit deflated being unable to summon forth much more than generalities.
And yet I still recommend it! Certainly the broad outlines of the story will remain with you and you will know where to look when struck by thoughts about the timeline of Boer migration or the progress of settler colonialism in the region between the Cape and Xhosa territory. Additionally Mostert writes beautifully and even amongst the details there's always a human touch: vital descriptions of individuals and ways of life, an eye for detail that makes the long gone immediate. Even when returning after a long hiatus I never had trouble getting swept up again in its flow of history.
Definitely recommended to anyone with an interest in South African history or good historical writing and tackling big books.
A passage chosen at random (p. 724):
"Harry Smith and his force were on a march to a destination unknown, to wherever Hintsa was leading them, and within hours the suspicion arose that this was to nowhere at all, that they were on a rambling circuit of evasion while the Chief sought to find a way of extricating himself from his situation. At the outset Hintsa had asked Smith to clarify what his position was and was told, twice for emphasis, that he would be shot if he tried to escape, otherwise peace was the intention, so long as they got all the cattle they wanted."
One final note is that I could not find much biographical information on Noël Mostert. Is he still alive? His most recent book is from 2007 and is about the Napoleonic Wars.
I would divide the book into three sections although Mostert divides it into five. The first takes us from the dawn of man to the first contact between Europeans and Xhosa in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. The third section is very hard reading and describes the advent of a millenial cult among the Xhosa in the mid 1800s and then continues up to the advent of apartheid and a postscript which describes the funeral of Steve Biko in 1977.
The problem and the promise is the giant second section: an incredibly detailed and deeply researched account of the frontier wars during which European colonists pushed the Xhosa further and further east on various pretexts but essentially in order to dispossess them of their land and cattle. As a recreational non-fiction reader this is a bit problematic since it is hard to keep all the people, places and events straight especially when reading lots of other things in between. In the end despite committing so much time to the task one feels a bit deflated being unable to summon forth much more than generalities.
And yet I still recommend it! Certainly the broad outlines of the story will remain with you and you will know where to look when struck by thoughts about the timeline of Boer migration or the progress of settler colonialism in the region between the Cape and Xhosa territory. Additionally Mostert writes beautifully and even amongst the details there's always a human touch: vital descriptions of individuals and ways of life, an eye for detail that makes the long gone immediate. Even when returning after a long hiatus I never had trouble getting swept up again in its flow of history.
Definitely recommended to anyone with an interest in South African history or good historical writing and tackling big books.
A passage chosen at random (p. 724):
"Harry Smith and his force were on a march to a destination unknown, to wherever Hintsa was leading them, and within hours the suspicion arose that this was to nowhere at all, that they were on a rambling circuit of evasion while the Chief sought to find a way of extricating himself from his situation. At the outset Hintsa had asked Smith to clarify what his position was and was told, twice for emphasis, that he would be shot if he tried to escape, otherwise peace was the intention, so long as they got all the cattle they wanted."
One final note is that I could not find much biographical information on Noël Mostert. Is he still alive? His most recent book is from 2007 and is about the Napoleonic Wars.
July 28, 2016
Took me a long time, but well worth it. Taught me so much about South Africa, and I use that knowledge in my teaching about minerals and gems.
Pretty sad though, what happened to the indigenous folk (Xhosa!)
Pretty sad though, what happened to the indigenous folk (Xhosa!)
March 7, 2025
Wow, this was a looooong read, but well worth it to grapple with why our beloved country is so full of hatred, racism, violence, discord, and a hundred other issues. Read it if you have three weeks of covid-inspired lockdown to force you to be indoors and catch up on old books. A summarised version would have been nice but it almost isn't really possible with 150+ years to express in 1350 pages. I'd have loved a character chart/map of sorts in the beginning, and ideally 5-10 more maps as the book went on. Most people are visual and I can't get why these historians can't include a few more of these types of things: graphs, maps, stats, a list of characters etc so you can keep up with the story - I mean, there are like 50 main characters, at least!
Pages 1 - 1242: The story
Pages 1243 - 1275: The Epilogue
Pages 1276 - 1281: The Postscript
then acknowledgements, sources, and bibliography!
A huge undertaking, and well done to Noel Mostert. Sounds like a legendary man I'd love to meet... in Morrocco!
Pages 1 - 1242: The story
Pages 1243 - 1275: The Epilogue
Pages 1276 - 1281: The Postscript
then acknowledgements, sources, and bibliography!
A huge undertaking, and well done to Noel Mostert. Sounds like a legendary man I'd love to meet... in Morrocco!
June 28, 2025
It took me about a year, on and off, to finish reading this 1281-page history of South Africa, aptly described on the back flap as “Based on years of research, written with a Gibbonesque sweep and a dazzling command of detail, Frontiers is a magnificent and memorable book. It is essential reading for anyone who would understand South Africa today, or the nature of imperialism at its high-water mark, and for everyone who takes pleasure in works of history on an epic scale.” I agree with this assessment.
December 31, 2010
I gave up - after close to 10 years on my bedside, I couldn't get through it. too much for me
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews