Pax Britannica: Climax of an Empire [Paperback]

Jan Morris (Author)

Book Description

Series: Helen & Kurt Wolff Book | Publication Date: November 11, 2002

This centerpiece of the trilogy captures the British at the height of their vigor and self-satisfaction, imposing their traditions and tastes, their idealists and rascals, on diverse peoples of the world. Index. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jan Morris served as an intelligence officer with the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers, studied at Oxford University, and was a reporter for the Times and the Guardian before launching into a successful career as a novelist, history author, and travel writer. Her other books include Last Letters from Hav, Fifty Years of Europe, Conundrum, Hong Kong, Oxford, The World of Venice, and Farewell the Trumpets.

Product Details

• Paperback: 552 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (November 11, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156028018
• ISBN-13: 978-0156028011
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #944,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece of historical narrative, July 1, 2008

By 

Jack Rice (California, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pax Britannica: Climax of an Empire (Paperback)

I'm in the midst of reading the trilogy, and I must say that, as a history major and history buff, I've never come across a history so well-told and of such consistent quality. And by "quality" I mean not only the quality of the prose itself but the editing. Those of us who read for pleasure and edification are aware of the sorry state of today's editing, or shall I say absence of editing. We've grown so accustomed to typos and repetition and horrible grammar, so tired of shouting to ourselves, "Where the hell is the editing?" that we find the meticulously edited Pax Britannica like a drink of cool, clear water in the desert.

The above comment can be applied to all volumes of the trilogy. Climax of an Empire may give one the impression that Morris is an Imperialist himself. And why not? At its height the British Empire was indeed a splendid edifice which, on balance, was a noble cause.

Yet, reading the final volume of the trilogy, Farewell The Trumpets: An Imperial Retreat, one can see that Morris has no illusions. Being a Welsh nationalist himself (now, herself), author James (now Jan) Morris certainly can't be accused of being a tory historian. Even in Climax of Empire, describing Pax Britannica at its most exhuberant, Morris is able to step back:

"In Africa they would try...to weld the ancient orders into the structure of Empire, exactly fitting each measure of responsibility into an imperial pattern, so that the pettiest pagan wizard could play his part in the grand design. But by these visionary means nobody was satisfied. The Empire lost part of its point, and the Africans found themselves stuck in a bog of tradition, from which before long all the more intelligent ones did their best to escape."

So, those of us with today's politically correct scorn of the benighted past need not censure ourselves for the irresistible delight we get from reading passages like:

"Throughout the length and breadth of the Empire a well-spoken, reasonably well-connected young man, with a few introductions in the right places, and a sufficiently entertaining line in small talk, could travel by himself without feeling the need for a hotel."

Or here, where he likens Queen Victoria to the Empire itself:

"...proud and often overbearing, but with an unexpected sweetness at the heart; suburban and sometimes vulgar, sentimental, in old age less beautiful than imposing; girlishly beguiled by the mysteries of the Orient, maternally considerate towards the Natives, stubbornly determined to hang on to her possessions...."

The entire trilogy reads this way. And the footnotes are just as delightful, often gossipy, often trenchant:

"When there were no positive or acceptable rules to follow, they were told, they must consult two simple principles: 'Equity or Good Conscience'.

[Footnote] "'Whichever,' cynics used to add, 'is the less.'"

The fact is, that despite the real depredations by the Portuguese and Belgian imperialists, which gave imperialism a bad name, British imperialism, in and of itself, was benign, establishing peace, justice, integrity and stability, where before had reigned unbridled murder, tyranny, corruption and chaos. That this was only a veneer which would crumble as soon as the British left, says more about the resilience of barbarism than the merits of Pax Britannica. To be sure, only one "gift" of modernity seems to have been a welcomed and permanent addition to local cultures: guns and machetes. Here were far more efficient means for settling scores than spears and stones. And as we see today, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, and excepting India, the Anglo-Saxon dominions and a few others, civilization -- call it imperialism or colonialism -- seems to have made no impression at all.

After the fall of the Roman Empire it took Europe centuries before Rome's former colonies rose on their own to the level of civilization imposed by Pax Romana. So it's no coincidence that the title of this grand trilogy, this masterpiece of historical narrative, is Pax Britannica.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, April 2, 2007

By 

M. Gillespie "amazonerguy" (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pax Britannica: Climax of an Empire (Paperback)

I picked this up on a whim in a used bookstore, but I'm certainly glad I did. Although I finished reading it months ago, it still stands out in my mind as an excellent book. This is not your standard history book -- there are no names or dates to memorize, and the focus is more on the common man than on prime ministers and generals (though you get some of those too). Rather, it is a portrait of an era. I have never read a book that did such a good job of conveying the *feeling* of a particular time and place -- even though that "place" covered something like a quarter of the earth's surface, and included hundreds of diverse cultures. It really gets you inside a British colonial of the era: their attitudes, their social status, what they read, how they felt about their place in the world.

On top of all this, Morris is simply an excellent writer. I understand from researching her other books that some people are thrown by her writing style, but in a book as impressionistic as this, it is entirely appropriate.

A slight warning: those looking for it might be disappointed that Morris does not spend more time on the more unsavory aspects of the British Empire. She doesn't whitewash anything, but be aware that this is generally a very positive view of the empire. If you're willing to accept it on those terms, you'll love this book.

Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dominion Over Palm and Pine, April 29, 2009

By 

Jason S. Taylor "Marco's Realto" (Portland Oregon) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pax Britannica: Climax of an Empire (Paperback)

The British Empire began in one World War which ended in 1815 on the field of Waterloo. It ended in another World War which ended in 1945. Actually that is not true; it sputtered on for a while after and there are people still living who remember it. And it began quite a bit earlier. But this was the Empire we think of when we think of the Empire.

The British Empire is curiously not treated as just another Empire-like China, or Turkey, or Persia. It is still hated, and yet sometimes lauded as if it still existed and was still a political controversy as indeed it was then. It left traces around the world for good or ill; actually for both. Indian judges wear wigs, Indian soldiers serve in the regiments that served the Empire and in Indian Regimental Messes there are still portraits of English officers. The geography of the world is remembered in names given by Imperial adventurers.

Morris writes a fascinating literary tour of the Empire at the turn of the century. We meet people some heroic, some villianous and some just rougeish. We visit the various places on land and sea where the Queen's Writ ran. The book is like a travel guide but a travel guide to a different time. We see how the British worked, played, and thought in that time when the world was theirs.

The book is on the whole favorable, but it does not deny the dark side of the Empire. The writting style is good as is the aesthetic sense and keeps the attention.

So if you wish for a bit of wistful nostalgia, or simply an excursion into this time, you could do worse then this book. And read about the pomp of yesterday that is now one with Ninevah and Tyre.