“We think we know what the British Empire did to the world. But what did it do to us?” asks Jeremy Paxman in Empire: What Ruling the World did to the British, the tie-in book to his forthcoming TV series.
Paxman’s aim is to look at how the empire shaped Britain, tracing its influence in everything from to the food we eat and the sports we play, to the way we travel and the way we trade.
What are the critics saying?
Reviewers eager to stick their knives into a wistful paean for colonialism, or a guilt-ridden apologia, were disappointed. Paxman’s book – as you would hope from a BBC production – is admirably balanced. All reviews said pretty much the same thing: this is an intelligent, well-written and entertaining introduction to the British empire, but one that says nothing new and fails to delve beneath the surface. Come on, what were they expecting?
Some choice insights…
Vernon Bogdanor, The Spectator:
‘Jeremy Paxman has written an excellent book, but it is not the book that he set out to write. His central argument is that … [if empire] influenced the colonised, it must have influenced the colonisers. But that, surely, is a fallacy. For the British empire was, for most of its history, an elite project. There is little evidence that it ever enthused the British people.’
Kwasi Kwarteng (who has also just written a book on empire) in the Observer:
‘Reading it felt rather like being led through a tropical garden by a weary retired army officer. Nothing really excites the author: though he expresses admirable outrage at the barbarities of the slave trade, the tone is one of detached, knowing indifference.’
Stephen Howe, The Independent:
‘… though there are allusions to the dark side of imperial misrule and atrocity … Paxman seems more concerned to recall horrors committed on “us” by the “natives”, and to reassure that most of those who ran the empire were not really such bad chaps after all.’
Bernard Porter, The Guardian
‘It’s a very engaging account … He doesn’t, however, delve much beneath appearances. There’s nothing here on the economic, cultural or any other roots of British imperialism.’
Piers Brendon, The Sunday Times
‘… he carries the whole thing off with panache bordering on effrontery. Yet much of his account is curiously familiar. Moreover, he does not fulfil the promise of his subtitle, offering only a perfunctory discussion of how the British character was shaped by the imperial experience.’
What’s the verdict?
Wait for the Paxo Britannica TV series, obviously.
Where can I find out more?
Listen to Jeremy Paxman talking about his book on Start the Week.
Read an extract from Empire on the Telegraph’s website
Empire: What Ruling the World did to the
British is published by BBC Books at £25
Anna Baddeley is editor of The Omnivore.
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