Reddit mentions of Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World

If there is one thing whites are exceptional at, it is creating an entire universe based on lies.

 

When the most populous group [whites] on earth cries genocide and garners sympathy from other members from their group, you know these people are exceptional liars and/or an enormous segment of their race are insane.

 

The icing on the cake is that these same "victims" are committing actual genocide across the planet. right. now.

edit: Can someone compile a list of these authors/academics? We can set the record straight with our reviews. eg Ferguson is one author and this is his apologetic work defending British imperialism https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Britain-Made-Modern-World/dp/0141007540/

J'avais lu un livre intéressant sur le sujet pourquoi les Anglais ont dominé le monde: Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World .
Les Anglais n'ont pas eu l'instabilité politique de la France et ils ont mis en places un système de financement privatisé ce qui leur a permis de lever énormément d'argent pour leurs conquêtes.

Niall Ferguson in his book Empire tries to argue that the British Raj in India was a net benefit. The whole book is a giant apology.

I think Niall Ferguson is deplorable for writing this and would not shed a tear if he dropped dead tomorrow.

If you want to see a critique of Ferguson, I strongly recommend reading this review. There is a big back and forth between Ferguson and Mishra at the bottom.

Read the review. Don't buy the book.

This is the argument that Niall Ferguson makes in Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World.

I've written an essay arguing against his conclusions, but I think it's more useful for me to link to a few reviews of his book, and extract some choice quotes.

Wilson's review in The Guardian

> "Far from being backward and uncivilised, Mughal India exported high quality manufactured goods to Britain's fashionable society. Aristocrats had Indian chintz on their walls and Indian cloth on their tables. British manufacturers often labelled poorer quality British imitations as "Indian" to dupe customers into buying their own shoddy goods. After all, why were the British interested in trading with Asia at all? It was to make money out of a wealthy society - not to invest and civilise.

> British rule pauperised India. The British restricted Indian weavers' ability to trade freely and the result was a drastic drop in living standards. Dhaka, now the capital of impoverished Bangladesh, was once a state-of-the-art industrial city. Its population fell by half during the first century of British rule. In 1750, Indians had a similar standard of living to people in Britain. Now, average Indian incomes are barely a tenth of the British level in terms of real purchasing power. It is no coincidence that 200 years of British rule occurred in the intervening time.

A more intellectual review by Porter

Pankaj Mishra's review in the London Review of Books (for which he was sued)

> In 1877, decades before anti-colonial leaders and intellectuals across Asia and Africa developed a systematic political critique of colonialism, the itinerant Muslim activist Jamal al-Din al-Afghani was attacking ‘the trap of duplicity’ in British accounts of India. The British had invested immense sums in developing a global network of modern communications simply in order, al-Afghani wrote, ‘to drain the substance of our wealth and facilitate the means of trade for the inhabitants of the British Isles and extend their sphere of riches’. Two generations of Western historians have essentially confirmed the early Asian and African arguments that the imperatives of ‘free trade’, whether imposed, as on China, by gunboats, or as on India, by outright occupation, had a devastating effect

The Oxford History of the British Empire (5 Volumes) - By 'Various' - Amazon UK I realise each book appears expensive, but try picking up some second hand copies.

Leviathan: The Rise of Britain as a World Power - By David Scott - Amazon UK

Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World - Niall Ferguson - Amazon UK, Ferguson often gets called an apologist for Empire because he does talk about its benefits, which usually comes from people that have not even read the book and have an emotional reaction. Yet he doesn't shy away from calling what happened to the Australian natives a genocide.

The British Empire: A Very Short Introduction - By Ashley Jackson - Amazon UK

I would say that these are a good start. Though I would be careful in your journey to find an "authentic" history of the British Empire, especially from modern writers, many take a revisionist approach to the subject. Personally, I would avoid John Newsinger's book, but that's just me.

EDIT : none of these look at the British Empire in a 'brutal' way, but they give a good history in my opinion.

Talking of naval affairs: you can't go past the British for running a massive naval empire. Neil Ferguson is a great author who write a book that's very easy to read. You should read: Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World

It's very interesting, and will give you a very different perspective to what you've probably learnt regarding the US's involvement in funding the Brits in WWII. (Hint: altruism wasn't really the reason).

If you're in for an interesting read I suggest Empire by Niall Ferguson

I'm at the part where they're discussing how Britian focussed on colonization as opposed to the French and Spanish.

I don't care about the good or bad (the British won either way) but I commend the French and Spanish for their integration with the natives as opposed to the British/American "Kill them all" approach.

Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World by Niall Ferguson (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Empire-Britain-Made-Modern-World/dp/0141007540)

I don't know what page becuase I watched the TV adaption (presented by Niall Ferguson). The program is also by the same name, so Bit Torrent the thing if you don't believe me.