The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire - Hardcover

Brendon, Dr Piers

3.89

661 ratings by Goodreads

9780224062220: The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0224062220 ISBN 13: 9780224062220

Publisher: Jonathan Cape, 2007

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No empire has been larger or more diverse than the British Empire. At its apogee in the 1930s, 42 million Britons governed 500 million foreign subjects. Britannia ruled the waves and a quarter of the earth's surface was painted red on the map. Where Britain's writ did not run directly, its influence, sustained by matchless industrial and commercial sinews, was often paramount.

Yet no empire (except the Russian) disappeared more swiftly. Within a generation this mighty structure sank almost without trace, leaving behind a scatter of sea-girt dependencies and a ghost of empire, the British Commonwealth of nations. Equally, it can be claimed that Britain bequeathed its former colonies economic foundations, a cultural legacy, a sporting spirit, a legal code and a language more ubiquitous than Latin ever was.

In a book of unparalleled scholarship, Piers Brendon presents the story of the decline and eclipse of British might, the major historical event in the closing stages of the second millennium. Full of vivid particulars, brief lives, telling anecdotes, comic episodes, symbolic moments and illustrative vignettes, The Decline and Fall of the British Empire evokes remote places as well as distant times. From the war for American independence, the end of the Raj, the 'scram out of Africa' and the unfinished business of the Falklands and Hong Kong to the new 'informal' empire of the United States, this is a comprehensive and engaging account.

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Review:

"Popular and scholarly...high level of accuracy...compelling reading from start to finish: the best one-volume account of the British Empire' -- Times Literary Supplement

'Brendon brings his own sharp eye to the debate... This is a real achievement and an important one'
-- Independent

'Brendon with an acute eye for detail...serves up a veritable gorefest in which all sides slake their lusts'
-- Scotland on Sunday

'One should never use the term masterpiece lightly...here it seems amply justified, such is the quality of his erudition' -- The Daily Express

'Quite simply, a masterpiece of historical narrative' -- Literary Review

'a marathon read, a grand Cook's tour of imperial history.' -- The Scotsman

'magnificent....a narrative masterpiece.... Brendon tells with extraordinary flair and sympathy'
-- The Sunday Telegraph

`[a] provocative, marvellously readable account' -- Ian Thomson, FT

`an extraordinary story, and he tells it well' -- The Irish Times

`one of the most colourful and blood-soaked narratives of the year' -- Dominic Sandbook, Telegraph

Book Description:

A brilliant, definitive and unique account of the eclipse of the British Empire.

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