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Empire
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Empire (2003) (edit title/settings)

The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power

by Niall Ferguson (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

"A splendid history.... If Americans want to be convinced of the benefits of empire, as well as apprised of its costs, they need merely pick up Ferguson's dazzling book." -- Weekly Standard The British Empire was the largest in all history: the nearest thing to world domination ever... read more

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  • “In other words, the Empire was dismantled not because it had oppressed subject peoples for centuries, but because it took up arms for just a few years against far more oppressive regimes. It did the right thing, regardless of the cost. And that was why the ultimate, if reluctant, heir of Britain's global power was not one of the evil empires of the East, but Britain's most successful former colony.”
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • The Empire had begun with the stealing of gold; it progressed with the cultivation of sugar.
    Highlighted by 13 Kindle customers
  • Between a half and two-thirds of all Europeans who migrated to North America between 1650 and 1780 did so under contracts of indentured servitude;
    Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers
  • They had robbed the Spaniards, copied the Dutch, beaten the French and plundered the Indians. Now they ruled supreme.
    Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers
  • the Empire, it might be said, was built on a huge sugar, caffeine and nicotine rush – a rush nearly everyone could experience.
    Highlighted by 9 Kindle customers
  • The rise of the British Empire, it might be said, had less to do with the Protestant work ethic or English individualism than with the British sweet tooth.
    Highlighted by 9 Kindle customers
  • The Dutch and English merchants who founded them were able to pool their resources for what were large and very risky ventures under the protection of government monopolies. At the same time, the companies allowed governments to privatize overseas expansion,
    Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers
  • It was an early example of the way the British Empire often worked: if the British couldn’t beat you, they got you to join them.
    Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers
  • This, then, was the combination that made New England flourish: Puritanism plus the profit motive.
    Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers
  • It was the constitutional principle – the right of the British parliament to levy taxes on the American colonists without their consent – that was the true bone of contention.
    Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers
  • It was the staggering cost of fighting these imperial rivals that ultimately ruined the British Empire. In other words, the Empire was dismantled not because it had oppressed subject peoples for centuries, but because it took up arms for just a few years against far more oppressive empires. It did the right thing, regardless of the cost. And that was why the ultimate, if reluctant, heir of Britain’s global power was not one of the evil empires of the East, but Britain’s most successful former colony.
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
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First Sentence edit see section history

In December 1663 a Welshman called Henry Morgan sailed five hundred miles across the Caribbean to mount a spectacular raid on a Spanish outpost called Gran Grenada, to the north of Lago de Nicaragua.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Introduction
1 Why Britain?
2 White Plague
3 The Mission
4 Heaven's Breed
5 Maxim Force
6 Empire for Sale

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Niall Ferguson (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Allen Lane
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 2003
ISBN: 0713996153
Page Count: 392

Classification edit see section history

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