The Girl Who Killed A Nation

South African icon Nelson Mandela created history when he became the country’s first head of state.

But how many people have heard of Nongqawuse, a Xhosa prophet who is said to have received messages from ancestral spirits or the divine which led to significant changes or events in society.

In Nongqawuse’s case, it was the Great Cattle Killing of 1856 and 1857, which is still much debated in the grassy hill lands of South Africa’s Eastern Cape today.

Now author, Treive Nicholas, has written a book dedicated to the travels of Nongqawuse who hailed from the same region as Mandela.

Drawing in lovers of travel, history and personal memoirs, the book is a story which will change people’s perceptions.

How did a teenage girl cause the death of 40,000 of her own people in 1856 and why do some compare her to an African Joan of Arc or Greta Thunberg? Was she a black liberation leader, a malicious liar or the disruptor of a conservative patriarchal society?

Fate is Treive’s constant companion, gently leading him to the rivers, woods and pastures where mercurial spirits, kings, prophets, witch doctors and colonial leaders played out this visceral African story in the cauldron of nine wars, settler invasion and cruel natural disasters.

The ripples of this almost unbelievable tragedy are still felt today. On the grassy hills of the Eastern Cape, Treive concludes the South African leg of his pilgrimage, holding an open-air court at the grave of the revered amaXhosa ruler, King Hintsa. The verdict on his death? Bloody regicide, at the hands of Sir Harry Smith, the Hero of Aliwal and darling of Victorian society.

After recovering from four tropical diseases, and much to Treive’s great surprise, the journey does not end there. Instead, it all comes uncomfortably closer to home. Much closer.

The book from Whittles Publishing, is Treive’s third. He trained as a research scientist in chemistry and biology, before leading an international career in commerce and has travelled extensively in Africa, particularly in the Eastern Cape.

He is the author of A Nun and the Pig, Tales from South Africa. This book is supported by the author’s website: www.treivenicholas.com.

Published: May 2025
ISBN 978-184995-596-6 234
UK Price: £18.99
Format: 234 x 156mm, Softback
Pages: 192 pages with 30 colour illustrations and four maps

The Girl Who Killed A Nation – When Worlds Collide
By Treive Nicholas
Published by Whittles Publishing

The Girl Who Killed A Nation is available to buy on the Whittles Publishing website and from WH Smith.

Author Bio:

Rebecca Hay is an experienced travel writer and member of The British Guild of Travel Writers. Follow her adventures with her family on Twitter and Instagram @emojiadventurer and on Facebook via EmojiAdventurers2.

Book cover courtesy of Whittles Publishing and top image by Albrecht Fietz from Pixabay