Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World Paperback – January 1, 2018

As other reviewers put it, it is definitely not a dry read; rather, it's reminiscent of Judith Flander's way of transition, seeming ever so fluent & germane, combined with the stock of information of a textbook, whilst not glazing over the important bits which is ever so detrimental to the story as a whole, as well as able to describe situations almost to the likes of Lindybeige.All in all, it's certainly an eye opener to gunpowder, tea, & colonies which a basic inference couldn't even begin to overestimate, funnily enough. 10/10, would Anglo again.

I selected this popular history of the British Empire with the evanescent hope that I would learn what are the attributes that allow for an empire to rise and in the case of England to be such a success that the sun never sets on the territory ruled by the Brits. I got a very readable history that begins with Morgan's piracy and follows the accretion of power and wealth to its zenith. Ferguson does deal with the local politics of England that ended with American independence that contained the same arrogance of the US towards Indo China. It would seem that success in Empire when the Brits are compared with the rest of their Euro compatriots stems from not trying to unload Christian Anglican values and religious practices with the manufactured goods sold to the colonials. The sepoy rebellion in India or George Washington's citizen army were most reactive when in the case of sepoy rebellion Cromwell tried to change religious practices and of course for the thirteen colonies the attempt to raise revenue through taxation. Both these practices failed to lengthen the reach or terms of the British Empire.Ferguson finds positive value in the Colonialism of the British Empire and has been attacked for this position. I think the jury may still be out, but it was good to hear a strong defense for empire when current cultural attitudes only inculcate sneering.

I agree with Ferguson's theory that empire is preferable to that which proceeded it. Steven Pinkers research on violence further backs up the importance of order and the value of conflict resolution systems with violence. The empire like the truth is never as satisfying as our beliefs and visions. It was coercive and liberating. I agree that the US should lead the subcontracted empire it built in ww2 and promote positive sum exchanges.The book is revealing of the context; a Bush Blair era of high confidence untempered by the realities of neoimperialism disguised as nation building. A 2nd edition on the American empire would be welcome.

In Empire, Niall Ferguson provides a sweeping view of the key drivers of the growth and governance of the British Empire. Unlike most of today's ideology-focused views of history as stories of oppression and exploitation, he is unafraid of laying out the good as well as the bad, and measures them in their time, not trying to hold the actors in history to the standards of current sensitivities. He identifies common key drivers of the British Empire, and identifies those unique traits, and their transfer, that created so many successful aspects of societies in the modern world. In this highly readable, engaging work, he lays out the case for the benefits in today's globalized world of the trade-centered, development-driving, state-building British Empire, which for all it's faults and flaws, gave us the modern world and its beliefs in the universality of law, science, technology, finance, medicine, and human rights. A fascinating story, told by a consummate storyteller. Whoever would have guessed a Harvard professor could be so knowledgeable, and yet so much fun to read?

I feared that this book would be an unbearable academic treatise...surprisingly, it was easy to read and it provided a lot of explanation into fundamental questions such as "How did a small island country like England mange to rule a country with the size and population of India? Interesting stuff.

Ferguson gives us a road map of our future here in America by detailing the fall of the British empire, the greatest 'super' power know in the history of the world. Ferguson's ability to make history unfold in an understandable, interesting and readable format is a gift very few have mastered at his level. For those who read this great narrative the natural follow on is Colossus, also by Ferguson.