Empire, Niall Ferguson
Empire, Niall Ferguson
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Empire
The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power

Author: Niall Ferguson

Narrator: Sean Barrett

Unabridged: 15 hr 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/27/2018

Synopsis

The British Empire was the largest in all history: the nearest thing to global domination ever achieved. The world we know today is in large measure the product of Britain’s age of empire. The global spread of capitalism, telecommunications, the English language, and the institutions of representative government—all these can be traced back to the extraordinary expansion of Britain’s economy, population, and culture from the seventeenth century until the mid-twentieth. On a vast and vividly colored canvas, Empire shows how the British Empire acted as midwife to modernity.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. A dazzling tour de force, Empire is a remarkable reappraisal of the prizes and pitfalls of global empire.

About Niall Ferguson

Niall Ferguson is one of Britain’s most renowned historians. He is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University, a senior research fellow of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a visiting professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He is the author of numerous books, including The Ascent of Money, a New York Times bestseller. His Kissinger, a feature-length film based on his interviews with Henry Kissinger, won the 2011 New York Film Festival prize for best documentary. His many other prizes and awards include the Benjamin Franklin Prize for Public Service, the Hayek Prize for Lifetime Achievement, and the Ludwig Erhard Prize for Economic Journalism.

About Sean Barrett

Sean Barrett has won over twenty Earphones Awards and two prestigious Audie Awards for his audiobook narrations. He started acting professionally at the age of twelve and has since appeared on television and in film in Minder, Brush Strokes, War and Peace, Sons and Lovers, and Return to Oz. His stage credits include performing in the West End with Noël Coward in his Suite in Three Keys. He has worked extensively on BBC Radio and has also narrated several television series, including People’s Century and Crash.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jonny

I wrote a paper on my initial reaction to the book, and after finishing it, I think my intuition was right. Here it is (I think I'm pretty harsh in this review--I don't think the book is "one-star bad" though): "A brief Google search of Niall Ferguson provides an ocean of information on him and his p......more

Goodreads review by Riku

I so wanted to launch into an outraged invective against the temerity of the author - but find myself in reluctant agreement with most of the arguments. Let me read and research the period even more before any attempt at a conclusion. Related review, for the interested: [URL not allowed]......more

Goodreads review by William2

This is a highly compressed history of 300 or so years of British imperialism. It isn't pretty, much of it. The Mutiny, 1857, the Boer War, 1900, Amritsar Massacre, 1919, are gone into with some thoroughness. What I missed was Ferguson's facility with statistics. His manipulation of them made The Pi......more

Goodreads review by Anthony

Facing the Past. I have to say I mostly enjoy Sir Niall Ferguson’s work. I find him intelligent, thought provoking and live the wide range of topics he turns his attention to. However, I am aware a lot of people don’t like him. His book ‘Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World’ is probably one of t......more

Quotes

“Scrupulous scholarship…A rattling good tale.” Wall Street Journal

“An entertaining, engaging romp through four centuries of British imperialism.” Los Angeles Times

“Brilliantly challenges the simplistic focus on racism, violence, and exploitation…A concise and lucid exposition.... Popular history at its best.” Washington Post

“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 (twenty 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.” Amazon.com, editorial review

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