The Illustrated Rise & Fall of the British Empire Hardcover – 1 Sept. 2000

I purchased this book to educate myself on the basics of The British Empire. It provides a good account of its inception, its golden age and its fall from power at the end of World war 2. It all seems rather accidental, rather than a master plan to control the world. I'm aware that every country has a dark history, I always remind myself that some of the behaviour was acceptable behaviour at the time and rejoice in the progress that has been made for humanity as a whole. We still have some way to go, but the British Empire provided good outcomes for its many subjects, it also provided suffering for others. You will have to balance these out and decide yourself if the British Empire was a force for good or not. A heavy but good read.

A vast subject, which is hard to cover in a single volume, so in that respect the deal has been done. If you need a comprehensive summary of the British Empire, than this volume is a good as any, and will fill most of the gaps. You must, however, be prepared to turn a blind eye to obviously xenophobic comments regarding our European cousins (rather similar to reading weak articles from the Daily Telegraph) as, let's face it, there is no reason to believe that the British were really any better, more altruistic, or more honorable than any other when it came to empire-building.

Congratulations to Lawrence James on this extensive work, it is clearly excellently researched, and James's intellect certainly shines throughout the book. However, I found the book pretty hard to understand and relatively boring at times. The book simply isn't accessible to the average man or woman on the street, and this is a shame. But James clearly knows his subject very well, it's just a shame that be can't communicate his enthusiasm for the subject in a more comprehensive way. But then again, maybe I'm just dumb.

This excellent and very accessible book provided the story, insight, depth of analysis and objective overview of the British Empire I was looking for. Lawrence James covers huge ground both historically and in terms of global reach (so it's not just about the Boston tea party, the Raj and the scramble for Africa) but a very comprehensive look at all aspects of the BE story. What I really liked about this was the objectivity throughout. He doesn't stray away from the social and psychological impact of the BE - for example it's impact in terms of race and class. What comes across is a clear sense of the way history has impacted world relations and the book is particularly resonant now given the whole issue of Brexit and a more nationalist leaning world. Definitely recommended reading

Just as it said in the description.

brought at the same time as Niall Ferguson's Empire book and read together, both I like, but both different, the Ferguson book a mix of words and pictures, but this one as stated on the back cover, a magnificent survey of four centuries of empire, and I couldn't put it better, this is the best book I have ever read on the British Empire, a must have book

A big old tome but fast paced and engaging.

Brilliant book. Well worth a read. Very broad yet in depth, gives the reader a true understanding of the british empire