Legacy of Violence

£16.99

Sprawling across a quarter of the world’s land mass and claiming nearly 500 colonial subjects, Britain’s empire was the largest empire in human history. For many, it epitomised our nation’s cultural superiority, but what legacy have we delivered to the world? Spanning more than 200 years of history, Caroline Elkins reveals evolutionary and racialised doctrines that espoused an unrelenting deployment of violence to secure and preserve British imperial interests. She outlines how ideological foundations of violence were rooted in Victorian calls for punishing indigenous peoples who resisted subjugation, and how over time, this treatment became increasingly institutionalised.

Peek Inside

In stock

Description

Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize, a revelatory, fearless history of the British Empire that lays bare its pervasive use of violence throughout the twentieth century.

In this groundbreaking work, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Caroline Elkins uncovers the systematic brutality at the heart of the British Empire. Drawing on more than a decade of research across four continents and newly declassified archives, she exposes the global network of detention camps, torture, and cover-ups that underpinned the imperial project – from Kenya to Malaya and beyond.

Far from isolated incidents, Elkins reveals a pattern of violence, used to secure and maintain Britain’s interests across the globe. Legacy of Violence is meticulously researched, passionately argued, and deeply relevant to today’s debates about empire, accountability and historical memory.

A NEW YORK TIMES, NEW STATESMAN, HISTORY TODAY AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR

‘Masterly? This book is dynamite’ Robert Gildea

‘Not so much a history book as a book of historical significance’ BBC History Magazine

‘Crucial? as unflinching as it is gripping’ Jill Lepore

Read a sample here

Additional information

Weight 0.703 kg
Dimensions 19.7 × 12.8 × 5.6 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

896

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

909.0971241082 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K

Reviews

There are no reviews yet.

Be the first to review “Legacy of Violence”

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *