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Rise And Fall Of The British Empire

Paperback / ISBN-13: 9780349106670

Price: £16.99

ON SALE: 7th March 2002

Genre: Humanities / History

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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

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Reviews

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
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
A masterpiece
A N Wilson
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.’
...with this superb history of a mammoth subject his writing career has reached its apogee.
Andrew Roberts, THE TIMES
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.’
Outstanding ... An intelligible introduction to a grand subject
M.R.D. Foot, THE SPECTATOR'S BOOK OF THE YEAR