Empire cover art

Empire

How Britain Made the Modern World

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Empire

By: Niall Ferguson
Narrated by: Niall Ferguson
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Once vast swathes of the globe were coloured imperial red and Britannia ruled not just the waves, but the prairies of America, the plains of Asia, the jungles of Africa and the deserts of Arabia. Just how did a small, rainy island in the North Atlantic achieve all this? And why did the empire on which the sun literally never set finally decline and fall? Niall Ferguson's acclaimed Empire brilliantly unfolds the imperial story in all its splendours and its miseries, showing how a gang of buccaneers and gold-diggers planted the seed of the biggest empire in all history - and set the world on the road to modernity.

©2004 Patrick Hennessey (P)2004 Penguin Audio Europe Great Britain Modern Politics & Government World

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Critic reviews

"The most brilliant British historian of his generation. Ferguson examines the roles of "pirates, planters, missionaries, mandarins, bankers and bankrupts" in the creation of history's largest empire...he writes with splendid panache...and a seemingly effortless, debonair wit." (Andrew Roberts)

"Dazzling ... wonderfully readable." (New York Review of Books)

"A remarkably readable précis of the whole British imperial story - triumphs, deceits, decencies, kindnesses, cruelties and all." (Jan Morris)

All stars
Most relevant  
Brilliantly knowledgable and balanced account of a controversial topic. Communicated with light hearted turns of phrase and tangible illustrations.

Helped me see a fuller picture of the British empire, and the incredible amount of good that came to the world through it, despite its faults. Highly recommended.

Informative and engaging

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For an overview of the history of the British empire this is a great introduction
Whether you agree with the conclusions is perhaps a different matter but the narrative and delivery is always interesting

Fascinating take

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Provides a far more nuanced history of the British Empire than the common, Marxian colonialism=bad trope. The bad is not whitewashed. It is acknowledged. However the positive aspects are as well. Many are not commonly understood under contemporary historiography.

A positive retrospective on the British Empire

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Ferguson offers a polished, erudite, and near immaculate in-depth account of how the British Empire came to be. He guides us expertly through the impact of the Empire and the immovable vestiges it has left behind since it faded.

An erudite imperial saga

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I really enjoyed this book. it was nice to read something not seeped in the political and cultural bias that has become so prevalent today.

the book attempts to show the good and bad of the empire and does so well, while remaining engaging and not being to academic.

refreshing

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If you're used to history books being tainted with anti western ideological statements, and historians that think they are novelists - well, here's an example of how history books should be - straightforward, factual and coherent.

Straightforwad with no leftist fluff

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An eye opener on where the British have come from and where we now stand in this American dominated world,

Who we think we are as the descendents of Empire

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Having seen Ferguson take centre stage in his tv documentaries I was unsure of enduring hours of his narration. This is a superb audio. It makes such a difference listening to an author tell his story. His enthusiasm is infectious and really drags you into the book. For a first time ever I have listened again to certain chapters in the audio book so interesting and enthusiastic is the author.

Unexpected pleasure

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Simple and rather shallow restatement of the basic facts. I was hoping for a deeper and more thorough analysis and ended up disappointed.

Very superficial

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More like the notes to a TV show. An excellent summary but more detail would be good.

Too brief

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