"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Observing that "the difficulty with the achievements of empire is that they are much more likely to be taken for granted than the sins of empire," Ferguson stresses that the British did do much good for humanity in their quest for domination: promotion of the free movement of goods, capital, and labor and a common rule of law and governance chief among them. "The question is not whether British imperialism was without blemish. It was not. The question is whether there could have been a less bloody path to modernity," he writes. The challenge for the U.S., he argues, is for it to use its undisputed power as a force for positive change in the world and not to fall into some of the same traps as the British before them.
Covering a wide range of topics, including the rise of consumerism (initially fueled by a desire for coffee, tea, tobacco, and sugar), the biggest mass migration in history (20 million emigrants between the early 1600s and the 1950s), the impact of missionaries, the triumph of capitalism, the spread of the English language, and globalization, this is a brilliant synthesis of various topics and an extremely entertaining read. --Shawn Carkonen
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
US$ 4.30
Within U.S.A.
Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0465023282
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard0465023282
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0465023282
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Prompt service guaranteed. Seller Inventory # Clean0465023282
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Brand New Copy. Seller Inventory # BBB_new0465023282
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Buy for Great customer experience. Seller Inventory # GoldenDragon0465023282
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0465023282
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Hardcover and dust jacket. Good binding and cover. Clean, unmarked pages. Seller Inventory # 2210170004
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. First Edition. The British Empire was the largest in all history, its reach the nearest thing to world domination ever achieved. By the eve of the Second World War, over a fifth of the world's land surface and nearly a quarter of the world's population were under some form of British rule. Yet for today's generation, the British Empire has come to stand for nothing more than a lost Victorian past--one so remote that it has ceased even to be a target for satire. The time is ripe for a reappraisal.In this major new work of synthesis and revision, Niall Ferguson argues that the British Empire should be regarded not merely as vanished Victoriana but as the very cradle of modernity. Nearly all the key features of the twenty-first-century world can be traced back to the extraordinary expansion of Britain's economy, population, and culture from the seventeenth century until the mid-twentieth--economic globalization, the communications revolution, the racial make-up of North America, the notion of humanitarianism, the nature of democracy. Displaying the originality and rigor that have made him the brightest light among British historians, Ferguson shows that far from being a subject for nostalgia, the story of the Empire is pregnant with lessons for the world today--in particular for the United States as it stands on the brink of a new kind of imperial power based once again on economic and military supremacy. Seller Inventory # DADAX0465023282
Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. 2.65. Seller Inventory # 0465023282-2-1