This is a timely work that provides us with a carefully researched and sensibly argued examination of late-nineteenth-century economic imperialism in action. Given current international debate on supposed European underdevelopment of the third world and the manner in which it affected the subsequent growth of today's emerging nations, a reasoned analysis of this nature is long overdue. It is a thoroughgoing appraisal, based on full utilization of mining records, the personal papers of key Randlords, and a wide range of printed materials. As such, it provides both a corrective to and updating of J. A. Hobson's classic Imperialism: A Study (London, 1902), although it should quickly be added that it is a far more searching work than that masterful piece of anti-imperial and anti-war propaganda. Furthermore, its subject matter assumes additional currency in light of the seemingly endless spiral of rising gold prices in today's market. Following an exceptionally fine opening chapter that is an excellent capsulation of historiographical trends on the subject (as such it will become standard reading for graduate students preparing for preliminary examinations), Professor Robert Kubicek discusses all the vital economic aspects of African gold mining. These topics include mining capital, the manner in which this capital obtained and utilized, technological developments, and the personalities and companies that comprised the industry. A concluding chapter summarizes his findings and makes pointed comments on previous theories of economic imperialism, such as those advanced by Hobson, Lenin, and others. Kubicek concludes, and one feels rightly in light of the impressive array of evidence he brings to bear to support his interpretations, that no single, simplistic explanation of economic imperialism and its causal connection with events such as the Boer War will suffice. Indeed, it can be argued with considerable cogency that capitalism of the international nature that characterized the African gold mining industry was in competition if not in conflict with imperialism and (203). According to Kubicek, international capitalism, Birtish imperialism, and Afrikaner nationalism coexisted in Africa during the period in question, but as forces at cross purposes. Accordingly, in his view, South African developments . . . should be seen basically as a function of clashing priorities and the inability of any one or combination of these forces to achieve supremacy (204). Kubicek's will not be the final word on the subject, but it is likely to be the catalyst, together with other recent works, such as Myra Fraser and Alan Jeeves (eds.), All That Glittered: The Selected Correspondence of Lionel Phillips 1890-1924 (Cape Town, 1977), for further study and debate on the connection between the mining industry, economic im-