Murder, social banditry, and Irish identities: reflections on a case study of the Old Transvaal.

Charles Van Onselen's Masked Raiders is reviewed comparatively to suggest that Irish identities are always contested; that during early capitalist competition, like that in the Old Transvaal before Union, amateur 'primitive rebels' or 'outlaw heroes' cannot match harder professional accumulators, like Cecil John Rhodes; that murder is not heroic; that subaltern history is inevitably about subalterns, who cannot rationally be promoted to 'lead the parade'; and that Rhodes and his ilk made a major contribution to the long run project, begun in the 17th century, which culminated in English's dominating the world by the 21st century; whereas the primitive bandits in question, whether hanged, shot dead, jailed or escaped, were largely irrelevant to history, despite the fascination with which humans approach the murderous criminal mind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]