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Title: Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power by Niall Ferguson ISBN: 0-465-02328-2 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.6 (30 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Gripping at straws
Comment: What the heck has happened to Niall Ferguson? Before reading Empire, I had him placed in my mind as an eccentric and enjoyable young historian and the author of sometimes inaccessible historical tomes that -- if you could make it through them -- often gave innovative takes to what had been tired subjects.
I cannot say that I agree with everything in previous efforts from Mr. Ferguson: in The Pity of War, for example, one of his main points was that Germany was not militaristic before the first world war. And in The House of Rothschild (his best book), I believe Mr. Ferguson's take on the French family judges them to harshly by using today's standards on a 19th century history. But with Empire, the author appears to have completely lost his hold on reality.
Mr. Ferguson spends most of the book's 352 glossy pages glossing over some of the atrocities of Britain's colonial period (he does not claim it was faultless, only that the spilled blood was necessary). He argues for the virtues of colonial rule in India, and spends far too little time and effort on the policies that set the stage for apartheid in South Africa. He says that the money and technology the empire spread balanced out the evils committed in colonial Africa and parts of Asia and the Caribbean. But this is all just setting the stage for his argument about the current American empire, and the lessons it can learn from Britain's former position as the world's lone superpower.
The issue of America's role in the world using history as a guide is an important and interesting subject -- and I enjoyed reading Mr. Ferguson's argument that, as a former British colony, the U.S. is a kind of heir to Britain's empire. But his appalling conclusion is that the U.S. should tighten its grip of influence on the world and make its self into an empire in more ways than the simple economic, social and military dominance it has now. What? Isn't America's might and unilateral policies what sparked anti-Americanism across the globe? If the U.S. followed the British example, wouldn't the kind of uprisings and insurgencies that crippled it at its peak be many times worse now, when combined with modern technology?
This book is not designed to be read on its own, but as a companion to a BBC television series. I have not seen the series, but I must imagine that certain topics were selected and highlighted because they made good television. I don't know how that explains Mr. Ferguson's dangerous conclusions, but I am gripping at straws here. I guess I don't want to believe that a writer I have admired in the past has really become so distasteful.
Rating: 3
Summary: Coffee Table Book Really
Comment: The kick with this book is in the last chapter where the author compares the British Empire with that of the American. Despite its faults the British Empire led to the direct government by Britian. This was accompanied by the outflow of capital the development of infastructure and the rule of law. The result of this is that a number of Britian's former colonies have developed as democratic nations in which there is ongoing progess. The most succesful example of this is perhaps India. Which is not to say that India is a more succesful country that say Canada or New Zealand rather its institutions have survived despite India being a poorer country which has to overcome considerable social problems and divisions.
America's Empire on the other hand is different. America is a hegomonic power which does not govern directly but has controlled its turf by the setting up of governments favourable to its interests. Thus it has on a regular basis overthrown governments and replaced them with proxy regimes. America does not export capital and it does not send out migrants to help develop the institutions of other countries.
In contrasting the two empires Ferguson believes that whilst Britain had many faults the results of its empire were good. The spread of the rule of law, the English Language the development of a commerical culture. America on the other hand has been marginally negative.
The book is not simply a propoganda tract and it outlines the negative aspects of the British Empire. Its autocratic nature, the implicit racism in its institutions the various massacres and crimes. However it has elements of adolescents debate about whose father has the more important job. That is a nostalgic look at a vanished institution.
Rating: 1
Summary: Wicked
Comment: If you would like to feel better about the abhorrent racism and murder that the U.K. has been responsible for then this is the book for you!
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Title: Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order by Robert Kagan ISBN: 1400040930 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 28 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad by Fareed Zakaria ISBN: 0393047644 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Paris 1919 : Six Months That Changed the World by Margaret MacMillan ISBN: 0375760520 Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks Pub. Date: 09 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Cash Nexus: Money and Power in the Modern World, 1700-2000 by Niall Ferguson ISBN: 0465023266 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: February, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Dust of Empire: The Race for Mastery in the Asian Heartland by Karl Ernest Meyer ISBN: 1586480480 Publisher: PublicAffairs Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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