The Empire Project: The Rise and Fall of the British World System 1830 to 1970 by John Darwin.
Just what it says on the tin; a comprehensive overview of the British Empire, in its various forms. I was surprised, early on, to learn that the British Empire was not a Top Down creation spurred on by a central authority bent on conquest, but more of a Bottom Up enterprise spurred on by motivated individuals.
Yet the most interesting thing that I found in this text is how it relates to modern day dynamics.
For example, very interesting that as food production ramped up in North America, most of the food production in Great Britain disappeared. Free trade killed those jobs, and what they got in return was greater prosperity (and creature comforts). Reminds me of America in the late 20th and early 21st century, and how a lot of our low-skill manufacturing jobs got exported to India and China.
There is of course a positive side to this; if less of your population is focused on food or manufacturing, they can focus on something else. Such as administration, warfare or technological research. Another interesting point concerning land; In the past the British bought up a bunch of land in Egypt and because of these assets, had total economic control of the country. Reminded me strongly of the Chinese buying up land here in America. The colonial practices of the past give good reason for nationalistic arguments in the present.
Despite having studied the First World War quite extensively in school, this book gives a real good overview of the effects and costs of the war. Darwin writes that the war was essential a conflict between British businessmen, who had control over the world, and German militants who wanted a piece of pie. But the First World War was not the devastating conflict (at least in economic terms) that killed the Empire. It definitely still existed in the 20s and the 30s, and could have made a comeback if not the Second World War. It was this conflict which really killed the Empire, and the following decades were just the slow death and replacement by the USA.
Last thing that I found interesting come about in this time period, after the Second World War. The British still had assets spread across the globe, including oil refineries in Iran. Things got real interesting when the Iranians seized the oil production (a natural resource in their own land) from a foreign ‘owner.’ British then had two choices. They could send in military forces to re-secure their assets or back down. They backed down and the Iranians took control of their oil. Why was this so interesting? Well it harkened back to, in my opinion, the section of the book in which the British bought up all those properties in Egypt. The natives can resist a foreign investor/invader, if the foreigners aren’t willing to back up their claim.
But what about when the foreigners are willing to back up their claim, such as the British and the Suez Canal? The British were willing to deploy troops to beat down the Egyptians, but the Egyptians did not go lightly. They had been banded together under the idea of a nation, and were not separated by tribes as they were when the British first invaded. In order to throw off a foreign invader/investor, the native people need a united front, and they must be willing to use violence to secure their local resources.
With all of that in mind, I can't give it anymore than three stars because the writing is quite dry. It is a history text, I understand that, but it could use a little bombast... a little poetry.
