Presented in the form of biographies centering on a number of men, women and families varying in status and race, Cape Lives of the Eighteenth Century provides a vivid survey of the Cape of Good Hope at the end of the Dutch period, during a period of rapid and dramatic development and change for the colony. The book's aim is to sketch the development of the Dutch colony at the Cape in the eighteenth century through the lives of eighteen individuals and families, primarily for the benefit of non-specialist and non-South African readers. Schoeman has published a great number of books, both fiction and non-fiction, including a general survey of the period covered here, with special emphasis on slavery.