Rise And Fall Of The British Empire - Softcover

James, Lawrence

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0349106673 ISBN 13: 9780349106670

Publisher: Abacus, 2002

Synopsis

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE covers the history of British expansion overseas from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Narrative and analysis are interwoven with revealing eyewitness quotation to provide keen insight into the minds of those involved in conquering, settling and ruling the greatest Empire the world has seen. Throughout, there are consistant themes; the search for profit and the moral misgivings it generated; domestic developments which made imperial expansion desirable; and the sense of national and personal destiny felt by the empire-builders. Spanning four centuries and six continents, James' magnificent survey examines the imperial experience and its legacy with tremendous verve. Informed, comprehensive and perceptive, it is the essential summary of the era. 'James' epic is not only a first-rate narrative, but also a penetrating portrait of the British...Having largely, if often inadvertently, selfishly or ham-fistedly, engineered the world we live in, we need the courage now to face up to our record as coolly and intelligently as Lawrence James has done' - John Spurling, TLS

About this title

Review:

A masterpiece (A N Wilson)

...with this superb history of a mammoth subject his writing career has reached its apogee. (Andrew Roberts, THE TIMES)

James never loses sight of his grand design, yet he still finds room for the telling detail which illuminates and enriches a narrative" Philip Ziegler, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH ('A stimulating book... intelligent and making no concessions to current cliché.’)

IRISH TIMES ('With dispassion and erudition James restores it to us mixing a pacy, lucid narrative with enlivening detail taken from political, cultural and populist sources.’)

His feeling for historical detail cannot be faulted and is made more engaging by his scholarship and infectious enthusiasm for the subject ... A thumping good read (Scotland on Sunday)

James' epic is not only a first-rate narrative, but also a penetrating portrait of the British ... Having largely, if often inadvertently, selfishly or ham-fistedly, engineered the world we live in, we need the courage now to face up to our record as coolly and intelligently as Lawrence James has done (John Spurling, TLS)

Outstanding ... An intelligible introduction to a grand subject (M.R.D. Foot, THE SPECTATOR'S BOOK OF THE YEAR)

Book Description:

* Uniquely complete account of the British Empire - Jan Morris' great Penguin trilogy PAX BRITANNICA only starts from 1837, rather than the 16th Century.
* A modern classic of narrative history, updated to include the 1997 handover of Hong Kong.

About this edition

• Publisher: Abacus
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0349106673
• ISBN 13: 9780349106670
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 736