Heaven's Command: An Imperial Progress - Pax Britannica, Volume 1

An enjoyable voyage through the history of empire building, jumping from country to country with enough detail to get a good understanding without getting bogged down in it. The book probably does pick and choose the most sensational parts of the imperial progress, but often this whets the appetite to read more on a particular subject that by necessity the author could only recount at a fairly high level. The book is not only about the battles of empire, but includes fascinating sections, for example, on the great explorers

This review is for all three large volumes of Mr Morris's brilliant and exhaustive work tracing the rise and fall of the British Empire in exquisite detail. From the grand sweep of history to the obscure backwoods incidents and the always fascinating explanations of all sorts of things and "facts" that we take for granted today which it turns out did not happen in the way traditional history would have us believe.



Another amazing part of the book is as it was written in the 1960s there isno PC rubbish or mincing of words to avoid notional offense given to any race or religion, all are treated equally and their stories told in all the gory details good or bad - this is certainly not a glorious whitewash of the Empire's history it is honest and frank in every way possibe.



The most unusual thing for me are the Irish sections which in mostly tends to be glossed over in the UK and still is today, this however was a relevation to me on the course and history of the "Irish Troubles".



The whole thing is a must for anybody interested in World History, I doubt I could have sat and read the books but on Audio they are brilliant.



Jonah