"Born into a Xhosa royal family around 1792 in the eastern Cape region of South Africa, Jan Tzatzoe was destined to live in an era of profound change - one that witnessed the arrival and entrenchment of European colonialism. During these dramatic and tumultuous times Tzatzoe, as a missionary, chief, and cultural intermediary on the eastern Cape frontier and in Cape Town and as a traveler in Great Britain, helped foster the merging of African and European worlds into a new South African colonial reality."

 "This is a fascinating and frequently moving book, packed with unexpected detail and beautifully crafted. A rich micro history of the life of an African chief, diplomat and Christian evangelist who was ultimately betrayed by the colonial state, A Living Man From Africa also raises penetrating wider questions about the lived experience of colonialism."

Levine, Roger S. A Living Man From Africa. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011. ISBN 9780300125214