Ghosts of empire
Subtitle: Britain's legacies in the modern world
By: Kwasi Kwarteng
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: 2011
Place of publication: London; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 465
ISBN-13: 9780747599418
Subjects: Colonies; Decolonization; History
Description: The British Empire was the creation of a tremendous outpouring of energy and opportunism, when the British were at their most self-confident, and the wealth they gathered was prodigious. At its heart lay a sense of the rectitude of the British way of life, meted out to vast swathes of the rest of the world without let or hindrance. Yet, as this book shows, the empire was not formed by coherent policy, and its decline reflected this: its later years were characterised by a series of accidental oversights, decisions taken without due consideration for the consequences, and uncertain pragmatism. Many of the world's trouble spots are those left behind by the chaotic retreat of empire, and its ghosts continue to haunt today's international scene.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [433]-443) and index.