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28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Scholarly, intriguing--although rudimentary--account, March 2, 2005
A book with so ambitious a title as "The Rise and Fall of the British Empire" holds much promise for the reader. Visions of 1000+ page tomes come to mind. After all, there is a lot of time and history involved with so monumental a subject. But James' account of what was arguably the greatest cultural, economic, and social force the world has ever known--the British empire--delivers solidly on that promise with clarity and brevity.
I won't mince words. The book is short for so massive a subject. But James executes it well. Some passages and accounts are agonizingly brief, of course, but the purpose of the book is not to delve deeply into the minutiae of the Empire's history. It provides a fairly elementary overview of the important events that unfolded to shape the Empire, painting an elegant background picture of the sheer scope and impact of imperialism.
Yes, pivotal situations, political turmoil, and wars are often glossed over, replaced by "big picture" statements or sweeping extrapolations and conclusions. But this is not necessarily a bad thing. The book's focus is decidely on the causes and effects of various events, and their place in the vast course of history that the Empire occupied. Events are covered in enough detail to allow James to continue his "big picture" story, but not in enough to detail to satiate an interested scholar.
Thus, the book is a fantastic background for anybody who is either completely unversed in English imperial history, or for readers wanting solid background knowledge to accomodate further, more detailed readings. But, as a background, this book is incredibly detailed. The book's accounts span some 400 years of British history, in which the nation evolved from a fairly mediocre European island power into one of the most dynamic and influential economic and military machines that the world has ever known. The people, the events, and the stories that contributed to this rise to power are all brought to live with stunning truth through James' writing. The book is divided into clear, understandable chapters that are well-written and researched.
James does not force didactic revisionist theories on us. He presents a clear, eloquent, interesting, and objective account of the British Empire, and leaves the reader with a deep and poigant understanding of the implications of the Empire's history.
This is an absolute must for not only those new to British history, but for the learned scholar who seeks a well-rounded, intriguing look into the vast span of Britain's imperial history.
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29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lengthy but effective, unbiased work on the empire, March 27, 2004
Lawrence James takes a straight factual narrative of the empire, neither going the neo-imperialist apologist route nor the leftist postmodernist road, equally emphasizing its achievements and darker moments. He does have an interesting style in introducing some of the chapters, and that is by describing the paintings that symbolized Britain at a certain point. He also uses poems, popular songs, and novels of the time to describe the sentiments at the time. At 629 pages, covering from 1600 up to 1993, it's quite a hefty read and may require a few sittings, but for a one volume work of the largest empire to last for a long time, it's effective.James's focus is primarily economic and political, with the sociological aspects on the British left and anti-colonialists given quite coverage beginning in the 19th century. But the story's the same. England's empire was created for her need of goods from the New World, but really took off during its series of global wars against France and its allies beginning with the Nine Years War (1689-97) up to the American War For Independence (1775-1783). The reason was twofold, to prevent France from gaining a foothold in the New World and to outcompete France and Spain in its maritime trade network. And England won because of its banking system, which allowed for deficit spending, and its constitutional monarchy with Parliament having the powers of the purse, established with the Glorious Revolution that unseated James II. The competition/antagonism with France over trade in Africa and India was refired in the 19th century, with Britain using its superior navy to establish its commercial hegemony. Yet there was another mission, and that was to civilize, to eliminate heathen practices (such as sati (widows immolating themselves on their late husband's pyre) in India, and introduce education and other British institutions in those faraway places. But that couldn't have been done with British work ethic, integrity, and a "dedication to the general welfare of mankind." Britain came out on top because of "native inventiveness and application of its people", "Britain's manufacturing industry", and "naval supremacy." Imperialism in itself is bad regardless of the country, as it leads to racism compared to the Germans and French, but the British were better than those countries given that they had a government that was the envy of all nations, although they retaliated in force only when attacked, e.g. Gordon, the Sepoy Uprising. The rise of the leftist intellectuals who became more egalitarian and anti-imperialist couldn't have happened without the 1832 Parliamentary Reform Act, which gave the vote to the middle class, leading to a more democratic Britain. Many were Liberals or Radicals, and they contributed to the eventual fall of the Empire. Counter to that were the more conservative Tories, imperialists to the core, and who espoused jingoism, "a clamorous, pugnacious and intestinally inspired patriotism," something briefly resurrected during the Falklands War. It was only when the empire was declining after the heavy loss of life in WW1, that the empire began to tighten its fist in a desperate attempt to cling onto its holdings. The massacre at Amristar (1919), the callous way it treated Middle Easterners, was the empire's dark side. This desperation can be seen with the establishment of Empire Day and the indoctrination of schoolchildren to look up to the empire, aided by pulp hero adventures by imperialist ex-war correspondent G.A. Henty, who cranked out imperialist propaganda to brainwash the youth. But being bankrupt by WW2, rising nationalist movements led by Gandhi, Nasser, and Nkrumah, and being dependent on US-influenced anti-colonialist foreign policy and aid, led to the empire's collapse into the Commonwealth, "a surrogate empire." Each section is titled with start and end dates. However, in some sections, there are topics that cover the same time period, so although it looks like one is going into a time loop, keep in mind that many things were going on. For example, James covers the Irish situation from 1919-1939, and then in the next chapter, covers Egypt from 1919-1942, the Middle East during that same time period, and then India. Then he covers British social and economic dynamics in separate chapters. Conclusion: "Few empires have equipped their subjects with the intellectial wherewithal to overthrow their rulers. None has been survived by so much affection and moral respect."
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Well done, but whats the point?, June 28, 2003
James' history of the British Empire occupies a precarious position. It is too short to provide the sort of depth required by a scholarly history and his attempt to record the 400 year rise and fall of the Empire leaves little room for the sorts of anecdotes and character development one finds in the best popular histories. He does manage to give the reader a rough sketch of the history of the Empire. It covers the basics: where the British possessions were along with how and when they were acquired(and lost). But because of the massive scale of the Empire there is little room for much else. Large parts of this book read like a list, but when James quits listing events and analyzes them he is both enjoyable and informative. He also does an excellent job integrating popular culture into his text. He includes quotations from plays, poems, and advertisements. James' writing is clear, lucid and enjoyable to read. However I gave it three stars because the book lacks focus. It is nice to read a history in which the author attempts, and largely succeeds, in being unbiased but James' aloof stance from the history makes it quite bland. Another major weakness of the work is that while he provides an adequate explanation for why the British were so successful in building thier Empire(technology and naval power) he offers little insight into the far more interesting question, why the Empire fell apart. Maybe the answer to that question is too obvious, but if it is he should have at least given a paragraph explaining it to dolts like me who read his book. He mentions several times that the fall was inevitable, and hints that it was the exposure to the British traditions of liberty and self-government that led to the fall, but he really skirts the issue of. Other helpful additions would have been a timeline and a biographical index of major figures. The book is well researched and provides a lot of information, but seems a bit pointless. I recommend it for someone wanting to know the basics about the Empire, but for anyone with more than an elementary understanding of the Empire it will not suffice.
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