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Empire

How Britain Made the Modern World

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Once vast swathes of the globe were coloured imperial red and Britannia ruled not just the waves, but the prairies of America, the plains of Asia, the jungles of Africa and the deserts of Arabia. Just how did a small, rainy island in the North Atlantic achieve all this? And why did the empire on which the sun literally never set finally decline and fall? Niall Ferguson's acclaimed Empire brilliantly unfolds the imperial story in all its splendours and its miseries, showing how a gang of buccaneers and gold-diggers planted the seed of the biggest empire in all history - and set the world on the road to modernity.

'The most brilliant British historian of his generation ... Ferguson examines the roles of "pirates, planters, missionaries, mandarins, bankers and bankrupts" in the creation of history's largest empire ... he writes with splendid panache ... and a seemingly effortless, debonair wit' Andrew Roberts

'Dazzling ... wonderfully readable' New York Review of Books

'A remarkably readable précis of the whole British imperial story - triumphs, deceits, decencies, kindnesses, cruelties and all' Jan Morris

'Empire is a pleasure to read and brims with insights and intelligence' Sunday Times

 Colonialism & Post-Colonialism Europe Great Britain Politics & Government World
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Most relevant
An eye opener on where the British have come from and where we now stand in this American dominated world,

Who we think we are as the descendents of Empire

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Loved it.
I listened to Empire land before this, and both great educational reads I would recommend this to anybody living in Britain.

Great education

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If you're used to history books being tainted with anti western ideological statements, and historians that think they are novelists - well, here's an example of how history books should be - straightforward, factual and coherent.

Straightforwad with no leftist fluff

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More like the notes to a TV show. An excellent summary but more detail would be good.

Too brief

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Brilliantly knowledgable and balanced account of a controversial topic. Communicated with light hearted turns of phrase and tangible illustrations.

Helped me see a fuller picture of the British empire, and the incredible amount of good that came to the world through it, despite its faults. Highly recommended.

Informative and engaging

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