Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World

New
Paperback
2004
$9.77

Once vast swathes of the globe were coloured imperial red and Britannia ruled not just the waves, but the prairies of America, the plains of Asia, the jungles of Africa and the deserts of Arabia. Just how did a small, rainy island in the North Atlantic achieve all this? And why did the empire on which the sun literally never set finally decline and fall? Niall Ferguson's acclaimed Empire brilliantly unfolds the imperial story in all its splendours and its miseries, showing how a gang of buccaneers and gold-diggers planted the seed of the biggest empire in all history - and set the world on the road to modernity. The most brilliant British historian of his generation...Ferguson examines the roles of pirates, planters, missionaries, mandarins, bankers and bankrupts in the creation of history's largest empire...he writes with splendid panache...and a seemingly effortless, debonair wit. (Andrew Roberts). Dazzling...wonderfully readable. (New York Review of Books). A remarkably readable precise of the whole British imperial story - triumphs, deceits, decencies, kindnesses, cruelties and all. (Jan Morris). Empire is a pleasure to read and brims with insights and intelligence. (Sunday Times).

Synopsis

Once vast swathes of the globe were coloured imperial red and Britannia ruled not just the waves, but the prairies of America, the plains of Asia, the jungles of Africa and the deserts of Arabia. Just how did a small, rainy island in the North Atlantic achieve all this? And why did the empire on which the sun literally never set finally decline and fall? Niall Ferguson's acclaimed Empire brilliantly unfolds the imperial story in all its splendours and its miseries, showing how a gang of buccaneers and gold-diggers planted the seed of the biggest empire in all history - and set the world on the road to modernity. "The most brilliant British historian of his generation...Ferguson examines the roles of "pirates, planters, missionaries, mandarins, bankers and bankrupts" in the creation of history's largest empire...he writes with splendid panache...and a seemingly effortless, debonair wit." (Andrew Roberts). "Dazzling...wonderfully readable." (New York Review of Books). "A remarkably readable precise of the whole British imperial story - triumphs, deceits, decencies, kindnesses, cruelties and all." (Jan Morris). "Empire is a pleasure to read and brims with insights and intelligence." (Sunday Times).

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 448
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 01 Dec 2004
ISBN 10: 0141007540
ISBN 13: 9780141007540

Media Reviews

Dazzling ... wonderfully readable * New York Review of Books *
A remarkably readable precis of the whole British imperial story - triumphs, deceits, decencies, kindnesses, cruelties and all -- Jan Morris
Thrilling ... an extraordinary story * Daily Mail *
Empire is a pleasure to read and brims with insights and intelligence * Sunday Times *
The most brilliant British historian of his generation ... Ferguson examines the roles of 'pirates, planters, missionaries, mandarins, bankers and bankrupts' in the creation of history's largest empire ... he writes with splendid panache ... and a seemingly effortless, debonair wit -- Andrew Roberts

Author Bio

Niall Ferguson is one of Britain's most renowned historians. He is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, a senior fellow of the Center for European Studies at Harvard University, and a Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing. His books include The House of Rothschild, Empire, The War of the World, The Ascent of Money, The Great Degeneration and Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist. His many prizes include the Benjamin Franklin Prize for Public Service (2010), the Hayek Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2012) and the Ludwig Erhard Prize for Economic Journalism (2013).