The Decline and Fall of the British Empire

NoempirehasbeenlargerormorediversethantheBritishEmpire.Atitsapogeeinthe1930s,42millionBritonsgoverned500millionforeignsubjects.Britanniaruledthewavesandaquarteroftheearth'ssurfacewaspaintedredonthemap.WhereBritain'swritdidnotrundirectly,itsinfluence,sustainedbymatchlessindustrialandcommercialsinews,wasoftenparamount.Yetnoempire(excepttheRussian)disappearedmoreswiftly.Withinagenerationthismightystructuresankalmostwithouttrace,leavingbehindascatterofsea-girtdependenciesandaghostofempire,theBritishCommonwealthofnations.Equally,itcanbeclaimedthatBritainbequeatheditsformercolonieseconomicfoundations,aculturallegacy,asportingspirit,alegalcodeandalanguagemoreubiquitousthanLatineverwas.Inabookofunparalleledscholarship,PiersBrendonpresentsthestoryofthedeclineandeclipseofBritishmight,themajorhistoricaleventintheclosingstagesofthesecondmillennium.Fullofvividparticulars,brieflives,tellinganecdotes,comicepisodes,symbolicmomentsandillustrativevignettes,TheDeclineandFalloftheBritishEmpireevokesremoteplacesaswellasdistanttimes.FromthewarforAmericanindependence,theendoftheRaj,the'scramoutofAfrica'andtheunfinishedbusinessoftheFalklandsandHongKongtothenew'informal'empireoftheUnitedStates,thisisacomprehensiveandengagingaccount.