Lost Cities 18
speculate on the future,” Winston Churchill wrote while
traveling through the southern parts of Africa. “Here are
wide tracts of fertile soil watered by abundant rains...
while Englishmen choke and fester in crowded cities, while
thousands of babies are born every month who are never
to have a fair chance in life.”^11
Led by the discovery of vast amounts of commodities,
primarily gold and diamonds, the region’s economy grew
fast during the 19th century.^75 Because of these natural
resources, and as often happens when humans become
greedy, several conflicts broke out.
Between 1899 and 1902, the British Empire and the
Boers fought each other in a conflict known today as the
Second Boer War. Boer is the Dutch word for farmer, and
the Boers originated from Dutch, Flemish, German, and
French settlers. Some Boers even originated from British
settlers who felt they didn’t belong to the British Empire
in a similar way as when the settlers in US decided to not
anymore be a part of the British Empire. Because of the
conflict across the Atlantic Ocean, Britain lost the Amer-
ican Revolutionary War and US became an independent
nation. The Brits were now determined not to lose control
of their colony in southern Africa.
One of the historical figures Elon admires is Winston
Churchill. During the Second Boer War, the soon to be
British prime minister worked as a war correspondent for
The Morning Post. Churchill, who used to be an army
officer, had resigned from the army to pursue a political
career. But when he heard of the conflict in Africa, he