A fascinating account which discusses the indigenous peoples at the Cape at the time of the Dutch colonisers' arrival through to the years of apartheid. This includes the colonial conquest of Zambia expanding upon the role played by venture capital and the demands of manufacturing capitalism in the colonisation of large parts of Africa. The place of women in both colonial settler society and indigenous society is also dealt with. Through all the chapters runs the thread of the lives of the common people, and how their interactions are circumscribed by social conditions.