This book is written to introduce readers to the Boers, the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. It also tells the story of their life experiences through the lens of a man popularly known as Oom Paul—Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger who was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and President of the South African Republic (or Transvaal) from 1883 to 1900. He came to international prominence as the face of the Boer cause—that of the Transvaal and its neighbor the Orange Free State—against Britain during the Second Boer War of 1899–1902.