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Stuart Laycock

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All the Countries We've Ever Invaded: And the Few We Never Got Round To Kindle Edition

by Stuart Laycock (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Out of 193 countries that are currently UN member states, we've invaded or fought conflicts in the territory of 171. That's not far off a massive, jaw-dropping 90 per cent. Not too many Britons know that we invaded Iran in the Second World War with the Soviets. You can be fairly sure a lot more Iranians do. Or what about the time we arrived with elephants to invade Ethiopia? Every summer, hordes of British tourists now occupy Corfu and the other Ionian islands. Find out how we first invaded them armed with cannon instead of camera and set up the United States of the Ionian Islands. Think the Philippines have always been outside our zone of influence? Think again. Read the surprising story of our eighteenth-century occupation of Manila and how we demanded a ransom of millions of dollars for the city. This book takes a look at some of the truly awe-inspiring ways our country has been a force, for good and for bad, right across the world. A lot of people are vaguely aware that a quarter of the globe was once pink, but that's not even half the story. We're a stroppy, dynamic, irrepressible nation and this is how we changed the world, often when it didn't ask to be changed!

Print length

366 pages
Language

English
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On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

The History Press
Publication date

February 29, 2012
File size

10370 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stuart Laycock is an author and historian. He has written many successful history books including Britannia: The Failed State, Warlords: The Struggle for Power in Post-Roman Britain, and UnRoman Britain: Exposing the Myth of Britannia.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B009UV5PT6
Publisher ‏ : ‎ The History Press (February 29, 2012)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 29, 2012
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 10370 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 366 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,987,527 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,045 in History of Ireland
- #5,434 in History of United Kingdom
- #19,665 in Great Britain History (Books)

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4.3 out of 5

416 global ratings

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Keith Mccullough

Exactly what it says on the tin

Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2013

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This book goes country-by-country and describes British military involvement in each in an engaging style. There is no real overall theme; each country is treated completely separately, and the author doesn't seem to try to group the countries in any way that I've noticed (the list is alphabetical). This is going to sound awful to criticize such a compete and exhaustively researched book on its sole exclusion, but I think it's too bad he excluded Taiwan from the list.

4 people found this helpful

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Thomas Phillips

Fun little read

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2013

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Nice book, written in a humorous style.

A few of the entries get repetitive. British came back, and then we came back again. But that is the nature.

Some passages are written in second person of Great Britain which can cause some interesting reads.

2 people found this helpful

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Sharon Beam

Good read

Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2020

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Funny and informative, especially if you enjoy uk history.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

It is mostly interesting but risks getting tedious if you read too much at the same time

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2014

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It does what it sets out to do: listing all the countries in the world with an account of British military activity (or, very occasionally, the lack thereof). It is mostly interesting but risks getting tedious if you read too much at the same time.

2 people found this helpful

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Nana

Very Funny Book

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2013

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I bought this for my son, who lived in London for 4 years. There were very few countries the Brits "never got around to". The sun really didn't set on the British Empire, and they didn't necessarily treat the natives well, but somehow this book is funny.

2 people found this helpful

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Ryan Boucher

A great summary of the (ab)use of power by one colonial empire.

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2013

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This book is a great summary of what England has been up to. I enjoyed the light-hearted writing style and the brevity taken by the author when needed. I recommend it.

5 people found this helpful

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Anand Natrajan

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2017

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Item is exactly as described.

Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2015

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As expected

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Jim Wright

Sold as advertised A+

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 18, 2024

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Sold as advertised A+

Walter

Not so funny book - for the ones who once lived under British rule

Reviewed in Canada on February 22, 2013

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A British colleague of mine once told me that "we have little reason to be proud of our history". Now I have the time to find out myself. That is why I bought Stuart Laycock's book. I do not find it "very funny" but rather cheeky. Aside from telling in good style where they have been without ever having been invited, I now have a good list of the less fortunate countries, including mine, and I can now proceed to flesh out Laycock's short "stories" in which he "forgets" to hint at the various crimes they perpetrated like in Bengal (now Bangladesh)where the Brits cut off the weaver's thumbs in order to eliminate competition to the Manchester cloth industry.

One person found this helpful

Dr.Livingstone

Interessante, alphabetisch sortierte, typisch englisch-selbstironische Sammlung

Reviewed in Germany on January 4, 2014

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Wer viel durch die Welt reist, kann hier nachschlagen, was Britain früher in dem Land gemacht hat und begreift, dass fast überall "Great Britain", was ja nicht umsonst so heißt, schon mal da war. Auch in Südamerika, z.B. Peru, wurde der eine oder andere Krieg geführt.
Nach den Römern ist mit England der Imperialismus-Begriff verbunden. Im Englischen Imperium ging bekanntlich die Sonne nie unter.
Ein relativ positiver Teil der britischen Kolonialisation war, dass sie den Einheimischen ihre Religion ließen, also, religiös leidenschaftslos, nicht aus Tempeln Kirchen bauten wie die katholischen Kollegen. Angesichts der historischen Gegebenheiten bleibt nur noch Selbstironie zur nachträglichen Beurteilung. Inzwischen liegt "Great Britain" auf einer mittelgroßen Insel im kalten Nordmeer und plagt sich mit den Folgen des Kolonialismus ab, - der Rest ist history. Zur Reiselektüre.

One person found this helpful

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Mac McAleer

Packaged post-imperialism

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 26, 2012

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The author describes this as a "modest little book" but the premise is interesting and it is a good read as long as you are not bored by military history. Perhaps its publication signals the end of post-imperial embarrassment. Any remaining members of the League of Empire Loyalists will find it offensive, feeling that it belittles the serious business of acquiring and retaining an empire. For the rest of us it is a populist read that is informative and entertaining.

The book has 215 pages plus a short conclusion containing maps of where we have been and a set of black and white photos of military statues in London. The recipient countries are arranged alphabetically into 12 chapters starting from "Afghanistan to Burundi" through to "Yemen to Zimbabwe", which is quite an imperial stretch. For decoration the first page of each chapter has a watermark of a Britannia figure, which is a good idea except that the watermark is too heavy and makes the reading of the first page more difficult.

The author deliberately stretches the definition of "invaded" to include short military interventions and actions by pirates, privateers and armed explorers. He also concentrates on the more unusual and less well known actions. As he says: "This isn't so much supposed to be an account of our invasions, rather it's intended to whet the readers' appetite to go in search of more information elsewhere". The readers themselves will have to decide where they go as this book has no bibliography. Some examples from the 191 entries are given below.

BURKINA FASO was formerly called Upper Volta and was a French colony. Originally it was a collection of African kingdoms. In 1898 the British went to the aid of one of these kingdoms against the French. In the meantime, at the Conference of Paris, it was decided that the whole area should be in the French sphere of influence. The British withdrew their protection.

KOREA: The British were part of the UN force during the Korean War of the early 1950s. At one time British troops found themselves deep into North Korea. In 1885 three British warships established a base on an island off the southern coast of the Korean peninsula. This was a counterbalance to the Russians in Vladivostok. The British abandoned this base two years later.

QATAR today is a small nation state in the Persian Gulf. It is immensely rich due to vast natural gas reserves, allowing it to pay for the World Cup and the Al Jazeera TV channels. In 1820 an East India Company ship bombarded the Qatari capital, Doha, destroying much of the town. It was shelled again in 1841. In 1868 the British imposed a settlement between Qatar and neighbouring Bahrain. In 1916 British troops marched into Qatar. A treaty was signed giving Britain control over Qatari foreign affairs in return for British protection. Qatar became free of British control in 1971.

SYRIA: Troops from the British Isles were involved in the First Crusade in Syria in 1097. In 1840 Britain had a naval involvement during the Syria War. At the end of the First World War the British entered Syria in force with Allenby, Lawrence of Arabia and the fighters of the Arab Revolt. The British were back in the Second World War.

This is a book for the nation-state maven and stamp collector in us all. Reading it from cover to cover could be a bit tedious, especially as the entries are alphabetical and therefore only connected to their neighbours by their initial letters. However, it is a good book to dip in and out of and, although not too serious, it is still informative and well worth reading.