Philip Hensher

The British Empire’s latest crime – to have ended the Enlightenment

Richard Whatmore sees trade and colonisation in the 19th century as the great threat to Enlightenment ideals, and British imperialism as an unremitting force of darkness

Queen Victoria, depicted in an English cartoon of 1858 on the transfer of Indian rule from the East India Company to the British crown in the wake of the Sepoy Rebellion. [Alamy]
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  • The End of Enlightenment: Empire, Commerce, Crisis

    Richard Whatmore

    Allen Lane, pp. 496, £30

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