Bidspirit auction | Story Cape Cairo

Story Cape Cairo - THE STORY of the Cape to Cairo Railway & River Route 1887-1922 . Ed. Leo Weithal. London: The Pioneer Publishing Company, [1923-1924]. 5 v.: il.; 290 mm. This monumental work, conceived as a true celebration of the imperial project of the ”Cape to Cairo” railway, envisioned by Cecil Rhodes and often described as the ”iron skeleton” of Africa, is compiled and richly illustrated by Leo Weinthal, a journalist and former Reuters correspondent in South Africa. The work is organized into voluminous, large-format volumes, profusely illustrated with fold-out maps, photographs, portraits, and views of engineering works, cities, and landscapes along the proposed railway and river route. In addition to the historical narrative of the construction of the different sections, Weinthal brings together contributions from high-ranking colonial officials, engineers, military personnel, and administrators, covering topics such as mining, trade, finance, and the physical geography of the territories traversed. The result is one of the most ambitious printed syntheses on the imagery of the ”Cape to Cairo” route, simultaneously a first-rate source for the history of transport and a revealing document of the propagandistic vision of the British Empire in southern and eastern Africa in the post-Great War period. Volume 1: The Story of a Grand Project and How It Came to Be; Volume 2: The Main Line as it Exists Today from the Cape to the Nile Delta; Volume 3: Variations of the Main Trunk Route and its Existing or Planned Feeder Lines. Native African Tribes and Wild Game; Volume 4: The Financial Trade and Industry of the Countries Served by the Route; their Geological Features and Mineral Production; the Railways on the Route; and Irrigation Works; Volume 5: Maps and Index. Map number 2 is missing. ! Please note that this translated text was generated by Google. !