Introduction: the project of an Empire; Part I. Towards 'The Sceptre of the World': The Elements of Empire in the Long Nineteenth Century: 1. Victorian origins; 2. The octopus power; 3. The commercial republic; 4. The Britannic experiment; 5. 'Un-British rule' in 'Anglo-India'; 6. The weakest link: Britain and South Africa; 7. The Edwardian transition; Part II. 'The Great Liner is Sinking': The British World-System in the Age of War: 8. The War for Empire, 1914–19; 9. Making imperial peace, 1919–26; 10. Holding the centre, 1927–37; 11. The strategic abyss, 1937–42; 12. The price of survival, 1943–51; 13. The third world power, 1951–9; 14. Reluctant retreat, 1959–68; Conclusion.
A magisterial global history of the rise and fall of the British Empire by an award-winning author.
John Darwin teaches Imperial and Global History at Oxford where he is a Fellow of Nuffield College. His previous publications include After Tamerlane: The Global History of Empire since 1400 (winner of the Wolfson History Prize for 2007), The End of the British Empire: The Historical Debate (1991) and Britain and Decolonization: The Retreat from Empire in the Post-War World (1988).
'… a tour de force. Never before have the dynamics of the British
Empire been analysed with such deep knowledge and penetrating
insight.' Piers Brendon, author of The Decline and Fall of the
British Empire
'The Empire Project is a brilliant and highly readable account of
one of the great themes in modern history. It will attract the
general reader as well as fellow historians because of the sweep of
the narrative from the early part of the nineteenth century to the
end of Empire in the 1970s. It possesses compelling insight into
the links between India, the 'white dominions' and the colonial
dependencies throughout the world. This is a life's work and a
landmark in the subject.' Wm. Roger Louis, author of Ends of
British Imperialism: the Scramble for Empire, Suez, and
Decolonization
'Historians are more than ever inclined to fight shy of
over-arching histories of Britain's empire. Nothing daunted, and
with style, splendid assurance, and encyclopaedic knowledge John
Darwin unravels the dynamic connections and external pressures that
forged a British world system and then influenced its dissolution.
His account will command attention for years to come.' Andrew
Porter, author of European Imperialism, 1860–1914
'John Darwin's The Empire Project: The Rise and Fall of the British
World System, 1830–1970 is surely now the finest, and will be the
most influential, general survey of British imperial history.'
Independent
'… a hugely insightful book that questions lazy notions of
'hegemonic' power. It's a brilliant marriage of the scholarly to
the readerly.' Edward Quipp, The Times Higher Education
Supplement
'With its clear narrative, detailed analysis and penetrating
insight, Andrew Porter is right that it 'will command attention for
years to come'. This is certainly the book to read if you are
teaching British colonisation.' Historical Association
'[Darwin has] inspired generations of Oxford undergraduates at
Nuffield College. Now we get a chance to eavesdrop on all those
tutorials and lectures. The result is a finely tuned panoramic
study of the British Empire that grasps a thorny issue: the complex
relationship between Britain as an imperial power and Britain as a
world power, and how those tensions were understood at the time and
resolved (or not) … The scholarship and the writing are faultless.
Expect prose sprinkled with musicality (such as the 'long
diminuendo' of decline) and delightful details, especially Lord
Salisbury's classic definition of the diplomatic arts: 'sleepless
tact, immovable calmness, a series of microscopic advantages …
serene, impassive intelligence'. The imperial politics of the white
Dominions might be boring compared with those of Africa or India,
but Darwin makes them almost captivating.' Joanna Lewis, The Times
Higher Education Supplement
'… there is no doubting the high quality of Darwin's book. It is
based on profound scholarship, is engaging and inquiring, and shows
a mastery of both the detail and the bigger picture … It is not
merely in the grand overview and in the skilful synthesising of so
much material that Darwin impresses. The book is also a masterly
work of exposition and analysis. On almost every page one is aware
of the sheer weight of scholarship that is able not merely to
present information clearly and with ease, but also to draw
together a host of facts, interpretations, even speculation, and
continually make sense of it all.' The Times Literary
Supplement
'… this is the best general history of British imperialism to date;
a tremendous achievement.' Bernard Porter, British Scholar
'Darwin has written a thorough, fluent and well-researched
history.' Literary Review
'John Darwin's The Empire Project is a tour de force, a major work
of revisionist synthesis and interpretation, rich in data and
insight, to which this short review cannot do justice … It is a
'must-read' for all serious students of the British Empire.'
Soldiers of the Queen: Journal of the Victorian Military
Society
'Among the most important new books written on the British Empire
is John Darwin's The Empire Project. This was awarded the 2010
Trevor Reese Memorial Prize and shows how the loose-knit Empire was
the basis but not the whole of that amazing federation called the
'British World'. This marks another important step in a more mature
understanding of the Empire's role in world history.' Contemporary
Review
'The great contribution of Darwin's book is that it hammers a final
nail into the coffin of an imperial history that saw the British
empire as crafted solely from London.' History Workshop Journal
'… [this] book is a welcome addition to the ever-growing studies
[on] British imperial history … well-researched and convincingly
argued … [and] gracefully written in a fluent style. Darwin
provides readers with a comprehensive and in-depth insight into the
rise and decline of the British world system … very informative and
engaging …' Chia-Lin Huang, European History Quarterly
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
