A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900 | Andrew Roberts

In the pursuit of his thesis (and let us not forget in its support that the most popular destinations for emigrants worldwide are English-speaking countries, which cannot be an entire coincidence) he makes statements of dubious, or at least contestable, validity. He tells us that Anglo-Saxon capitalism is superior to all its rivals, citing France, Sweden and Japan. Well, Sweden last year enjoyed a growth rate superior to any English-speaking country’s; its economic performance over the last century and a half, relative to all English-speaking countries, has been incomparably superior. It was one of the poorest countries in Europe, and is now one of the richest. As for Japan, its economic performance in the last 100 years has also greatly outstripped that of any English-speaking country, and moreover its population has the highest life-expectancy in the world.

I mention this because Roberts sometimes has what might be called the pig-iron approach to societies. In Soviet propaganda, pig-iron production, or the rate of increase in its production, was taken as a measure of social success. But man does not live by pig-iron alone. Roberts tells us that General Motors scored a decisive victory over Chrysler because its building, the Empire State, was so much larger than the Chrysler building. He omits to mention that, while the Empire State is a feat of engineering, the Chrysler building is also an architectural masterpiece — and that counts for something.

Roberts is Pollyanna-ish about the state of modern Britain, and its pyramid scheme economy. If Britain is a popular destination for refugees and economic migrants, it is also a country half of whose native population would like to emigrate. Young Britons, at least en masse, are now regarded abroad with dread, loathing and contempt, and quite rightly so.

Roberts tells us that the English-speaking peoples are specially attached to honest and upright government, and while this may once have been true, it is certainly no longer true in Britain, where moral, intellectual and ultimately financial corruption in the public service has been more or less legalised. Nor is this a British problem only: the New Zealand parliament recently passed a law in an afternoon retrospectively exonerating political parties from electoral malfeasance.

Finally, I think he is over-optimistic about the war in Iraq. Democracy cannot be spread like butter on toast. He is right about some of the wilder accusations against Bush and Blair, but the fact that they have been criticised is no evidence of their wisdom. If hegemony entails the ability to control events, then there is no hegemony. Power deludes, and dreams of absolute power delude absolutely.

For all my reservations, however, I read this book with much pleasure and instruction. To resume reading so large a tome with anticipation of enjoyment is testimony to the skill of the author; and, when all is said and done, the achievement of the English-speaking peoples is very great.