Empire
How Great Britain Made the Modern World
by Niall Ferguson · first published 2003
67% recommend33% critical
In this book Niall Ferguson argues that the British Empire should be regarded not merely as vanished Victoriana but as the very cradle of modernity. Nearly all the key features of the twenty-first-century world can be traced back to the extraordinary expansion of Britain's economy, population, and culture from the seventeenth century until the mid-twentieth--economic globalization, the communications revolution, the racial make-up of North America, the notion of humanitarianism, the nature of democracy. Ferguson shows that far from being a subject for nostalgia, the story of the Empire contain
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https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Niall-Ferguson/dp/0465023282 Solid author, genuine attempt objective history, the causes, the justifications, the sins, the benefits.
on “Imperial Delusions” ↗Some nice insights but I think you downplayed the catalytic role the development of banking and finance had during the 18-19th century, in both Britain and the Netherlands. e.g.: Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World -- N. Ferguson
on “Why the Industrial Revolution Didn’t Happen in China” ↗That seems to be a problems with Ferguson. His book, "Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power", was annoying in that he makes quite a few generalizations of more complex phenomenon. In it he comes off as pro-colonialist,…
on “Complexity and Collapse: Empires on the Edge of Chaos ” ↗