The Rise and Fall of British Empire

Rating:
Summary: Lengthy but effective, unbiased work on the empire
Review: 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."

Rating:
Summary: An excellent and concise book
Review: The Rise and Fall of the British Empire is a definite must read for anyone interested in the history of possibly one of the most important empires of the world. Concise, and superbly written, this book will be enjoyed by any fan of the British Empire, be it a novice or intermediate.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly written but good since there isn't another like it.
Review: This author has an obvious anti-imperial bias. I don't care one way or the other for the British Empire (being an American), but the author's clear anti-imperial views had a strong negative impact on his ability to help understand what went into the Empire. Superficially chronological (the book starts in the seventeenth century and progresses to the twentieth), individual pieces are all over the map chronologically. I would be reading about the Empire in Egypt during the period between world wars, and one paragraph will talk about 1936 and the next 1919. This made the prose very difficult to follow. Further, the author concentrates on the twentieth century and leaves one with no feel of how the Empire actually developed. The Napoleonic wars are given a cursory review but the period between 1919 and 1942 uses half the book. You really are left with no idea what motivated the start of Empire building, whether it was Cromwellian, Elizabethan (an era not even discussed) or what. No mention of the defeat of the Spanish armada, and only cursory discussion of Drake leaves one with the impression that the Empire just happened. As if that wasn't enough, the prose itself is exteremely dry and a chore to sift through. This author is not a very good writer, merely a reciter of facts. If you want a very cursory overview of the British Empire, this may be the only choice available, but it's otherwise pretty useless.

Rating:
Summary: Biased, Scattered Prose, Spotty Selection
Review: This author has an obvious anti-imperial bias. I don't care one way or the other for the British Empire (being an American), but the author's clear anti-imperial views had a strong negative impact on his ability to help understand what went into the Empire. Superficially chronological (the book starts in the seventeenth century and progresses to the twentieth), individual pieces are all over the map chronologically. I would be reading about the Empire in Egypt during the period between world wars, and one paragraph will talk about 1936 and the next 1919. This made the prose very difficult to follow. Further, the author concentrates on the twentieth century and leaves one with no feel of how the Empire actually developed. The Napoleonic wars are given a cursory review but the period between 1919 and 1942 uses half the book. You really are left with no idea what motivated the start of Empire building, whether it was Cromwellian, Elizabethan (an era not even discussed) or what. No mention of the defeat of the Spanish armada, and only cursory discussion of Drake leaves one with the impression that the Empire just happened. As if that wasn't enough, the prose itself is exteremely dry and a chore to sift through. This author is not a very good writer, merely a reciter of facts. If you want a very cursory overview of the British Empire, this may be the only choice available, but it's otherwise pretty useless.

Rating:
Summary: Too much dominion history
Review: This book is amazing. As one of the commentators put it: "James can't write a dull sentence". Even though I admire the way he writes, I dislike some of his views on certain issues: 1. He pays too much attention to the 'dominions'. From page 300 or so, the book shifts from the history of Britain and its colonies to simply the history of Britain and dominion politics. 2. This book offers very accurate historial descriptions and data, however I can't understand why James presents such a distorted view on the Munich crisis; he simply justifies Chamberlain's policy towards Germany, and the whole issue is reduced to tactical differences between Britain and the dominions. That is far from convincing, and seems more of a pretext to an irresponsible foreign policy.

Rating:
Summary: Seperates Fact from Myth about the Empire
Review: This book really explained a lot of questions I had about the Empire. As a lover of Victorian England (mostly the Empire), I couldn't really understand why the Empire fell so fast. Why did they give small countries their independence; why not just hang on to them? This book explains all the above AND the mind frame of the English mind as well as how divided the public was over the Empire.

Rating:
Summary: Every history book should be written in this style!
Review: This book should become a textbook in English history class. I found it entertaining (although I am not British!). Mr. James has a mixture talent of a historian and a novelist

Rating:
Summary: Good Intro
Review: This is not a serious scholarly work of the British Empire worthy of citation anywhere by anyone, as I explain below.

What a difference a century made! In 1900, when Queen Victoria was still on the throne, Britain was the leading imperial power. Pink was everywhere on the world map. Now pink is only a tiny speck in the northwest corner of Europe.

Although Britain's economic output was already surpassed by America by 1900 (America's output was almost double, while America's industry was one-and-a-half times), its Empire's total share of world trade was 16% - more than that of any other country. America and Germany had 11% each. But yesterday, the World Trade Organization just released the latest trade figures, which show among other things that Britain was overtaken by China in 2002 for the fifth place in share of world trade. The new order is: America, Japan, Germany, France, China, Britain and Canada. Britain is at SIXTH place.

Britain's GDP is now $1.52 trillion, according to the CIA World Factbook. That's a mere 3.2% of the world total, at SEVENTH place, behind America, China, Japan, India, Germany, France, in that order. (Gross World Product: $47 trillion) Britain's share in world output in 1900 was about 17% (about the same as its share of world TRADE).

Both Britain's trade share and output share will continue to decline in the future, with correspondingly declining ranks.

To be beaten on both counts by France of all countries must be like rubbing salt into the aging lion's wounds - France after all had historically lagged behind Britain economically (i.e., at least since Napoleon, if not before), not to mention militarily.

The story of Britain's decline and fall is not yet over, as it still holds Gibraltar, Falklands, Bermuda, among other hotspots. In time, Britain will lose them all, as its military power cannot be sustained by a weak economic base. While Britain remains within America's good graces, it will still be able to make a difference (i.e., hold onto them). But this will not last forever. Also, the final chapter will be the most interesting of all: Scotland independence and final the end of the United Kingdom (created in 1707). When this chapter will be written is hard to say, but it may be sooner than we think...

The British Empire is of personal interest since I happen to have been born in it (pre-1997 Hong Kong) and am still living in the British Commonwealth. I'm a British colonial by birth and association. When I became a Canadian citizen, I was required to swear allegiance to the British monarch. (How I envy Americans for not having to do this any longer! I would not hesitate to swear my allegiance to the Canadian Constitution, however.) I cannot say I prefer this book to my other books on the British Empire, including the 20th century-volume of the Oxford Histories and the ones by Jan Morris, Niall Ferguson, Trevor O. Lloyd and Denis Judd. But this is a short one-volume work, which is its main advantage.

This book is a very elementary review and overview. My own copy is the illustrated version and I found a number of inaccuracies in it - such as saying Patten's handing over his territory "to Hong Kong" (he was handing it over to China, as most people know by now). The quality of this author's research is just so-so, I'm afraid.

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating insight into the context of our culture.
Review: This remarkably readable account of the rise and fall of the British Empire has been difficult to put down. The universal nature of the Empire has been treated even-handedly: without focussing primarily on the 'major' colonies and ignoring the issues around the acquisition of the smaller ones (however, the presence of the British in South America was overlooked). If I could summarise the entire work in two concepts, it would be that 'greed' and 'fear & loathing of the French' propelled Britain into the Empire it formed. It is good to see that this work doesn't just focus on the interminable wars which were fought to extend and maintain the empire, but look at many of the other, local issues which were influential at the time.

Rating:
Summary: scholarly and very readable outline
Review: This thoroughly researched and interestingly written account will be a valuable introduction for anybody interested in the historical development of the British Empire. The author's excellent use of narrative technique and his ability to bring to life a whole period in each of his chapters makes the book not only an instructed but a very pleasant read. Though full of small but significant detail presenting the reader with a glimpse of how things may have looked in their day, the author does not loose the overall view of the events and by splitting the material into well shaped chapters is giving very accessible insights in each of them.
The Rise and Fall of British Empire is a scholarly work but Lawrence James does not feel the need to impress the reader with complex methodological and thematic discussions, technical intricacies or obscure lingo - he presents us with a book which is compelling, rich and very educational.