Customer Reviews

Empire: The British Imperial Experience From 1765 To The Present

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Dennis Judd's book on the history of the British Empire is not a day by day approach to empire but a focus on the most important events that shaped that empire. Things such as the India uprising in 1857 or the work of Cecil Rhodes are the main focus. The stories that are chosen do an excellent job of showing how the empire developed and the path it took to formation. This really is the best single volume work on the British Empire in terms of a pure history. The book covers all parts of the empire and has interesting vignettes such as the formation of the boy scouts. It also covers some of the major internal domestic squabbles within Great Britain as they relate to empire. I found that the discussions on how world war 1 and 2 affected the empire were very accurate and to the point. The reader can get a very good sense of how the British were drained of resources by the wars and see the effect this had on empire. As nationalistic movements took root in the various countries the British found it more difficult to control. Particularly with the end of Lend Lease by Truman the British were forced to grant independence to their colonies. The last few chapters focus on the remaining parts of the empire and how they fit into the commonwealth including the struggle with the Falkland Islands. If the reader wants a much more detailed account of the empire try to the Oxford history five volume British Empire. Judd's account is very readable and well done for those wanting a review of the salient points in the Empire's history.

As a historian I find that Mr Judd makes far too many ignorant and simplistic mistakes in this book for me to overlook. For instance he makes no distinction between Australia's or South Africa's Dominion status and Southern Rhodesia's self governing status, something anyone who studies the subject should know, the difference is remarkably important and greatly influenced why white-rule and segregation were eventually ended in that country (today Zimbabwe). His tone on the matter of self-governing settlers and his refusal to distinguish between Dominions and self-governing colonies (of which Southern Rhodesia was the only one) strongly implies that Britain was capable of dictating foreign policy to Australia and Canada during the 20th century! He also focuses an unnecessary amount on who was homosexual and he devotes dozens of pages to sexuality, particularly homosexuality throughout the Empire, which is childish and very beside the point. He also makes lazy broad generalizations such as referring to places like Burma and Ceylon as being part of the Raj in India; they were British territories but they were never in fact governed by the Raj, they were crown colonies with appointed governors much like Nigeria or Bermuda, Judd show's a remarkable inability to get these sorts of details right and there are so many of them that as someone who studies the British Empire in much depth this book was disgruntling and I find it to frankly be irresponsible to publish something so subtley and casually inaccurate and call yourself a historian. The amount of demonizing of the British that again, he does very subtly seems to hint and some sort of either Anglophobia or since he is from Britain, a distinct sense of self-loathing and which compounds his inaccuracies and gives me the impression he has some sort of angle here other than that of a historian. Do not buy this book if you want a good book on the history of the British Empire, as someone who is relatively obsessed with the topic, I would recommend the Rise and Fall of the British Empire by Lawrence James.

This book looks at specific events over the course of the history of the British Empire, and analyzes each in telling detail. A wonderful introduction seemingly designed for those, like me, who are fascinated by the British Empire and who want an overall introduction to its complicated history.

The author has conducted a thorough analysis of the real reasons behind english imperial expansion from 18th century onwards and presented the effects of this in it's context. Very enjoyable reading... Interesting to see how present governments are reacting identically to similiar geo-political issues.

The author certainly serves a certain audience. It would be good to remember that the British empire did not win the Anglo Boer War II (1899-1902) by fighting against other soldiers, but by fighting against Boer women, children, the sick, elderly and disabled Boers. When too many children died in the concentration camps after England destroyed all they had, Britain destroyed the Boer Republics. It would also be good to remember that Britain, in this war, forgot the Sandriver Convention that gave the Boer Republics sovereignty, and also that Britain broke rules of the Hague Convention, i.e. by pitching locals against each other,destroying all the food the Boer people had. The soldiers of the British empire even prevented Boer women from going to the toilet at night. These experiences would have made a more complete story.

British terrorism against Boer civilians

As an A-level student I found this book a superb support for my studies and full of factual information for essay writing. This book however was also very entertaining to read which always helps when studying for exams.