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Loading... Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World (original 2003; edition 2004)by Niall Ferguson
Work InformationEmpire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power by Niall Ferguson (2003)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Just curious, why through the majority of book's length the author uses ratios instead of per cents? Some of them really odd like two fifths. personally 40% would be easier for me to grasp :D Maybe it's Imperial measurements school ;) I was favorably impressed with Ferguson's account of the making and collapse of the British Empire. Few people can remember many details of long forgotten historical clashes such as the Boer War, the Opium Wars, or how the British gained control over far flung territories such as India, Singapore, Ghana, Egypt, Australia, etc. Also interesting was how an empire developed over several hundred years could collapse in just tens of years. Financial demands on the empire over the years and during war time, requiring a need to raise taxes and cut domestic spending, certainly have a parallel to our current economic problems as well. All in all, this book provided a good overview of the British Empire, many of the key individuals contributing to its formation, the after affects on the colonies, and some of the good as well as the bad of this colonial period.
That the British Empire was, on balance, "a good thing" is a provocative idea, the sort that has made Ferguson a celebrity in the U.K. Ferguson has written six books during the past eight years, and he has often thrilled in presenting novel twists to what others in the academy consider settled historical fact. Belongs to Publisher SeriesPenguin Celebrations (21)
References to this work on external resources. Wikipedia in English (18)The British Empire was the largest in all history: the nearest thing to global domination ever achieved. The world we know today is in large measure the product of Britain's age of empire. The global spread of capitalism, telecommunications, the English language, and the institutions of representative government-all these can be traced back to the extraordinary expansion of Britain's economy, population, and culture from the seventeenth century until the mid-twentieth. On a vast and vividly colored canvas, Empire shows how the British Empire acted as midwife to modernity. Displaying the originality and rigor that have made him the brightest light among British historians, Ferguson shows that far from being a subject for nostalgia, the story of the Empire is pregnant with lessons for the world today-in particular for the United States as it stands on the brink of a new kind of imperial power. A dazzling tour de force, Empire is a remarkable reappraisal of the prizes and pitfalls of global empire. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)909.09History and Geography History World history Other Geographic ClassificationsLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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