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Uncommon Wealth

Britain and the Aftermath of Empire

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About this listen

Britain didn't just put the empire back the way it had found it.

In Uncommon Wealth, Kojo Koram traces the tale of how, after the end of the British empire, an interconnected group of well-heeled British intellectuals, politicians, accountants and lawyers offshored their capital, seized assets and saddled debt in former 'dependencies'. This enabled horrific inequality across the globe, as ruthless capitalists profited and ordinary people across Britain's former territories in colonial Africa, Asia and the Caribbean were trapped in poverty. However, the reinforcement of capitalist power across the world also ricocheted back home. Now it has left many Britons wondering where their own sovereignty and prosperity has gone....

Decolonisation was not just a trendy buzzword. It was one of the great global changes of the past hundred years, yet Britain - the protagonist in the whole messy drama - has forgotten it was ever even there. A blistering uncovering of the scandal of Britain's disastrous treatment of independent countries after empire, Uncommon Wealth shows the decisions of decades past are contributing to the forces that are breaking Britain today.

©2022 Kojo Koram (P)2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited Europe Great Britain Politics & Government Thought-Provoking Money Socialism Capitalism Caribbean

Critic reviews

"Brilliantly arranged and rich with fresh insights, Uncommon Wealth reminds us how the forgotten stories of empire and decolonisation continue to impact our daily lives in Britain - and throughout the world - up to today." (Akala)
All stars
Most relevant
bought the book after listening to Kojo’s thoughtful interview on the excellent podcast ‘The Dig’ with Daniel Denvir, am glad I did.

Great reading of a great book

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The clear narration and information was a real insight into the wealth of the world

A most eye opening book of clear historical information

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Informative, easy to listen to and a from a traditional (mainland) British point of view, a great alternative view on history and economics.

A thought provoking assessment of empire and economics

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Incisive, enlightening and I hope will add one of many more much needed footnotes about British history.

Brilliant

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The theses of this book are old.

That poverty is not innate to Africa or Asia but is a consequence of an extractive economic system in which Euro-American, Asian and African elites collaborate to the detriment of billions of working class people.

That the tactics of empire - old or new - all too often come home to roost, whether it’s the deployment of anti-Mau Mau tactics in Northern Ireland or the disciplining of labour and the dismantling of state provision of basic services to yield higher profits.

That the culture wars being waged by the ruling class and their media talking heads is a distraction - that irrelevances such as removing portraits of the queen or even arguing about street names covers up the on-going robbery both of British working class people and the former subjects of empire by the capitalists.

It’s accessible,it threw in a few details about Jamaican and Singaporean political history I didn’t know, the authors voice is pretty mellifluous, all in all this gets a good rating from me.

Decolonising everything benefits you!

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