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  • Empire

  • How Britain Made the Modern World
  • Written by: Niall Ferguson
  • Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
  • Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (89 ratings)

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Empire

Written by: Niall Ferguson
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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Publisher's Summary

Penguin presents the unabridged audiobook edition of Empire by Niall Ferguson, read by Jonathan Keeble.

Once vast swathes of the globe were coloured imperial red, and Britannia ruled not just the waves but the prairies of America, the plains of Asia, the jungles of Africa and the deserts of Arabia. Just how did a small, rainy island in the North Atlantic achieve all this? And why did the empire on which the sun literally never set finally decline and fall?

Niall Ferguson's acclaimed Empire brilliantly unfolds the imperial story in all its splendours and its miseries, showing how a gang of buccaneers and gold diggers planted the seed of the biggest empire in all history - and set the world on the road to modernity.

©2017 Niall Ferguson (P)2017 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

"The most brilliant British historian of his generation...Ferguson examines the roles of 'pirates, planters, missionaries, mandarins, bankers and bankrupts' in the creation of history's largest empire...he writes with splendid panache...and a seemingly effortless, debonair wit." (Andrew Roberts)
"Dazzling...wonderfully readable." ( New York Review of Books)
"A remarkably readable précis of the whole British imperial story - triumphs, deceits, decencies, kindnesses, cruelties and all." (Jan Morris)

What listeners say about Empire

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A fascinating and well performed audio book.

I picked up this book because I enjoyed Niall’s books Civilization. This new work is much like his previous - full of fascinating facts and accounts which bring to life the world of 18th and 19th centuries. It’s clear that the author spent countless hours studying historical records, journals, and facts to prepare this work - a brilliant summary of how the British empire came to be what it was. Modern history lovers are bound to find this summary extensive and fascinating.

Undoubtably, the particular facts and stories which Niall chose to highlight in this book show his particular bias on such controversial topics as how Christianity spread in Africa and Asia. But it’s easy to see how difficult it would be to present an unbiased review of the facts. In the end, although I disagreed with a number of the conclusions made, I enjoyed the presentation.

1 person found this helpful

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major themes are very interesting

Overall, the ideas are compelling and I learned a lot of interesting stuff. A few chapters go overboard on quotes from stuffy British historical characters. The chapter about the role of religion goes on and on and on and on. But, if you are even considering this title, you know you're in for some heavy learning. A good listen though, and the reader does some good voices.

1 person found this helpful

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Extremely biased and unbalanced book.

Very disappointed in this book as it presents an exclusively negative view of the British Empire and especially editorial regarding values and traditions; both religious and otherwise. The bad heavily dominated any good in the writers opinion. I could not finish the book as it became increasingly wearisome and disappointing.

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  • 2021-08-31

pretty good history of the Empire

Pretty good book. It has all the historical accuracy and insight you would expect from Ferguson. The one thing I will say is there is a small section near the end where it just kind of bogs down talking about boring old British men. Besides that the general ideas and scope of the book are very good.

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Refreshing

I am sick to the gills with social Marxism and critical race theory. Our University professors and administrative staff have become Communist Puritans who like to ignore historical inconveniences that don't support their version of reality. The same people that claim that 2 + 2 does not equal 4 ... and woe betide you if you disagree! Persecute the unbeliever!

This is not a propaganda piece. It is actually a balanced history with arguments made to both sides of a debate because the author wants you to think!

This book is nicely written, entertaining, informative, and the narration is problem free.

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Imperative Listen For Those That Wonder

I really enjoyed listening to this book. It was very detailed, and the chronology was succinct from the origins of the empire all the way to the selling off of the empire. I believe this book has empowered me to correct individuals that unabashedly utter lazy claims about the origins and motivations of the British Empire. I also believe this book should be taught in schools, and I will be sure to pass down this information to my children. Thank you

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  • Dorothy
  • 2017-11-04

Such a great listen - What a History Lesson

I have listened to Niall Ferguson's book "Civilization" three times. I know I will do the same with this book. There is so much in this book which remains pertinent to the situations and times we are witnessing and living in today. This book pieced together and explained so many shadowy yet prevalent cultural happenings such as the Boar War and Gallipoli: things I knew the NAMES of but really had no understanding of why they had happened or what their importance meant to current events.

While there is much that was arrogant and even brutal about the British Empire, Mr, Ferguson explains the origins and outcomes in an even handed way. The book is written in an easy to comprehend manner, it is not a boring academic tome that people who lack a Phd can understand or enjoy.

I can't emphasize enough how amazing Jonathan Keeble is as a narrator. He is pitch perfect. I often look for his books because he seems to make anything he reads even better. I basically listened to this book in one sitting. It was very, very good.

41 people found this helpful

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  • Buretto
  • 2017-11-15

Worst empire ever, except for all the rest.

An engaging, if a bit of an uneven, account of the British Empire, as the author vacillates between a contemptuous view of the notion of empire and unabashed patriotism. The result is a bit disconcerting, abandoning a more measured style for a one that tends to reach for extremes of emotion. But oddly, it works.

The book gives unique perspectives on the major events of the empire, particularly in America and India. The author does go a bit afield with suppositions of alternate realities regarding slavery and colonialism, which can't strictly be supported, but it's all good food for thought. Where it starts to strain is the repetition of how the British empire's actions could be viewed as similar to the SS in Nazi Germany, but not as bad.... the Boer treatment of Africa, but not as bad... the Japanese colonisation of Asia, but not as bad. While certainly understandable, it's a theme that perhaps could have been made with a slightly subtler hammer.

20 people found this helpful

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  • Dennis Arve Wilkinson
  • 2018-01-18

It wasn’t all bad was it?

Empire building is not a popular idea today. It smacks of abuse and extortion
Ferguson breaks down the good the bad and the ugly of the British Empire, but doesn’t conclude with the expected thumbs down. It’s more of a thumbs sideways perhaps even pointed a little upwards. Can he do that? Both his primary source stories and his reasons are worth listening to!

18 people found this helpful

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  • ali
  • 2018-06-22

Terrible

Ahh where do I start...

I think a good way to start this with a caveat - since I grew up and continue to live in the Middle East I have a strong, inherent dislike for the British Empire and everything it stands for - so when I saw such a book I though 'great, let me see the other point and the argument for and against it'.

Now in hindsight, perhaps I should have paid a closer attention solely based on the title 'Making The Modern World' - no arguments there, I am writing in English and lots of countries I have association with were shaped almost entirely due to British Empire actions, so shaping they did. However, it also hints to the real 'outcome' the author wishes to reach to - and that is it WAS a good thing.

Unfortunately, I am not neither qualified nor have sufficient energy to write a whole essay on why I disliked this book - but to put it simply it felt like 80-90% of the time the author was romanticizing (even fetishistic) about how AMAZING the British Empire was (and I won't be surprised, how awful it was that it collapsed). Oh, who cares that we subjugated the entire Caribbean Islands and literally popularized the slavery trade - we did end it later. Oh, wasn't it so lovely when we were exploring Africa and taking each country after another, and the amazing expeditions across the Zambezi river - that is not possible now! Oh, yes yes we massacred a lot of Indians and Sudanese when they dared revolt to our rule - but LOOK, look what Japanese and the Nazis did during WW2 - isn't it better to be killed by us instead?

If you have to dig so deep down the barrel to make justification to glorify the Empire by comparing it favorably to Nazis and Imperial Japanese war-crimes, then I really can't trust your research and arguments when reading your book!

This becomes evident when the author also starts quoting Tony Fucking Blair on how Western Civilization should spread its model around the World - this is before the war on Iraq and subsequent - and subsequent news about the author shows his ideology (I did not read much about him but the most recent being him targeting students in a university he teaches in because he doesn't like their politics) - this is a guy who would pushing for expansion of Empire rule if he was in pre-WW1 Britain and likely the first buyer of shares in the in the East India Company.

I would definitely not recommend this book, nor do I take it as a subjective book to read on the topic (keep in mind my caveat though - I am biased too myself and I hope this is not an example of a confirmation bias).

A lovely quotes from the book:
"The end of empire is portrayed as a victory for freedom fighters who took up arms from Dublin to New Delhi to rid their peoples of the yoke of Colonial rule - this is misleading, throughout the 20th century the principal threats and the most plausible alternatives to British rule were not national independence movements but other empires. These alternative empires were significantly harsher in their treatment of subject peoples than Britain"

13 people found this helpful

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  • J. R.
  • 2018-03-21

Enjoyable book

Excellent narrator, good story, the only part I did not care for was the endless "white guilt" complex of the author, and groveling apologies in nearly every chapter...

8 people found this helpful

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  • KEITH
  • 2018-01-06

How Britain gained and lost the Empire

This is a very easy book to listen to and understand. It takes the reader from the beginning of the Empire (when the goal was to steal what they could from Spain), to the founding of colonies (and the ability of Britain to change its policies after losing America) to owning 1/4 of the land mass on the globe. The author points out that overall Britain wanted to do do the moral thing for its people.

6 people found this helpful

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  • Bill
  • 2018-05-14

Clearly Skewed

This is a very interesting work, although it is presented as though it is an unbiased academic work it is far from that. Mr. Ferguson is clearly an intelligent man, but is a bit of a revisionist on America and tends to be an English elitist. In summary the world was so much better when England was in charge.

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Dan Davis
  • 2018-04-14

Enlightening

I am glad I finished this enlightening work. The middle drug out in details, but the body of work is worth the time.

4 people found this helpful

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  • John Birkhead
  • 2020-08-26

A great summary of the British Empire

I was born in Britain. I think Furguson has put together a great guide to the development and fall of the empire.

While Furguson is a little more gung ho for the empire as a whole than I am, I agree with many of his conclusions.

Definitely recommended for anyone interested in modern history, the current world and how it got that way. For good or bad.

2 people found this helpful

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  • Craven Moorehead
  • 2020-04-07

Rule Britannica

As a native citizen of the colony of Canada, I have a new appreciation for the contributions of the Great British.

Very good read.

2 people found this helpful