John Robert Dunn

The Chief with Ears the Sunlight Shines Through
The Lost History of John Dunn

The Chief with Ears the Sunlight Shines Through is biography is of an extraordinary man who could have walked straight out of the realms of fiction, written with a refreshingly new perspective of John Dunn. A man whose life in the heart of the Zululand bush as a close friend, advisor and confidante of the Zulu King, influenced both the Zulu nation’s destiny and that of colonial Britain. Born to a British immigrant family in 1834 into a fledgling society in nascent South Africa, Dunn’s life choices were not predestined by a noble birth, education, wealth or political affiliations, they were thrust upon him as a means of survival.

The son of an English father and a Scottish mother Dunn was left orphaned and destitute in embryonic frontier country. Courageously, he rose from obscurity to political importance and international notoriety during his close personal relationship with the Zulu king, Cetshwayo Mpande, prior to the Anglo-Zulu War. A war in which he played a reluctant role. His political, economic, and military activities spanned decades balanced precariously between British imperial supremacy and the power of an independent Zulu kingdom.

The Chief with Ears the Sunlight Shines Through, brings every aspect of the charismatic Dunn’s character to life. Renowned for his lavish hunting excursions and grand dinner parties, John Dunn was the most entertaining and graphic raconteur, regaling his guests with tales of his perilous adventures. British government officials, senior military officers and European aristocracy sought invitations to his homestead in the heart of Zululand. Admired by those who lived and fought alongside him but constantly condemned by European society for being a polygamist. Controversy continued to cast a never diminishing shadow over his whole life.

Dunn’s fascinating story, that touched the heart of a Zulu king and intrigued a British queen, is narrated with detailed real life and eye-witness accounts which unfold on every page of The Chief with Ears the Sunlight Shines Through.