Michael Cardo

Michael Cardo

Michael Cardo is a South African author, historian, and former politician. He is best known for his book Harry Oppenheimer: Diamonds, Gold and Dynasty (2023), the first comprehensive biography of Harry Oppenheimer, which explores the mining magnate’s role in shaping South Africa’s business and political landscapes.

Cardo previously served as a Member of Parliament for the Democratic Alliance (DA), where he was Shadow Minister of Employment and Labour. He holds a PhD in History from the University of Cambridge and has a strong academic interest in the intersections of business, politics, and history. Drawing on unrestricted access to Oppenheimer’s personal archives and interviews with his family and associates, Cardo’s biography provides a nuanced examination of Oppenheimer’s legacy during apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa

  • Politic, History
  • 1977
  • Male
  • 1
Default sorting
Show
16
  • Harry Oppenheimer -Diamonds, Gold and Dynasty - Nile KenyaHarry Oppenheimer Diamonds, Gold and Dynasty
    Quick View
    (0)
    By : Michael Cardo

    Harry Oppenheimer: Diamonds, Gold and Dynasty

    In the glittering corridors of wealth and the shadowed chambers of apartheid South Africa, Harry Oppenheimer emerges as both titan and paradox—an industrial magnate who wielded diamond dust and political subtlety with equal precision. This sweeping biography lays bare the intricate dance between conscience and capitalism, legacy and complicity. Can a man build empires while resisting the moral decay that often feeds them? With piercing insight, the book explores how power can be used not only to dominate, but to influence, reform, and sometimes quietly defy. It is a portrait of a life lived at the fault lines of history, where ambition meets ethical ambiguity.

    • Originally Published: 2023
    • Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers, 2023
    • Genre: Biography
    • Pages: 593
    • Book Type: Hardcopy
    • ISBN: 978-1868428014
    • Access: Members