Masked Raiders: Irish Banditry in Southern Africa, 1890-1899

Masked Raiders follows the wild exploits of legendary brigands like the McKeone brothers and ‘One Armed Jack’ McLoughlin, who ravaged the subcontinent, from the mining towns of Barberton, Kimberley and Johannesburg, to the borders of Basotholand, Bechuanaland, Mozambique, and Rhodesia. With tales of heists, safecracking, illegal gold dealings, prison breaks, and hidden roadside treasure, the book reveals the potency of the highveld’s ‘criminal heroes.’ Startling insights also reveal how the hidden grammar of brigandage informed political actions of the day, such as the Jameson Raid, and how the movement of bandits across the interior helped shape the borders of what was to become modern South Africa.