The Jew Who Would Be King: A True Story of Shipwreck, Survival, and Scandal in Victorian Africa (1)

By: Adam Laurence Rovner

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Synopsis: This vivid reconstruction of one man’s life reveals the harsh realities and moral ambiguities of colonial power The Jew Who Would Be King tells the story of Nathaniel Isaacs—a nineteenth-century British Jew who helped establish the Zulu kingdom only to become a ruthless warlord and slaveholder. Isaacs’ thrilling journey begins with his shipwreck on the shores of Zululand and proceeds to ports across West Africa, including Freetown, Sierra Leone. There, tasked by the colonial governor to end the local slave trade, Isaacs brokered deals that reinforced his own power. Adam Rovner's meticulous archival research in England, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and St. Helena, coupled with his own travels to the remnants of Isaacs’ island stronghold in Guinea, brings this complex figure to life. Through Isaacs’ story, Rovner exposes the entangled forces of Jewish emancipation and antisemitism, slavery and abolition, the stark dichotomies of civilization and "savagery," and the creation of whiteness versus Blackness.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
Book Size:: 344 Pages
ISBN-13:: 9780520403017
Related ISBNs:: 9780520403000
Publisher:: University of California Press
Date of Addition:: 04/15/25
Copyrighted By:: Adam Rovner
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: History, Nonfiction, Religion and Spirituality, Social Studies, Politics and Government
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.