hassanalsaeid's review against another edition
4.0
Concise look at the rebellions and moments of British colonialism which are often forgotten.
frankied1's review against another edition
5.0
excellent about the british empire, domestic resistance (or lack thereof), decolonisation and imperial tendencies within the Labour party
jangali's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
angelinite's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
an interesting look into the conflicts between the british empire and the people living within it. there were a lot if great sources and interpretations used here however it was impossible not to notice the author's dislike for 'new labour' and because of this the labour party is held to a higher moral expectation than other parties, something which doesn't seem entirely fair when all parties were at points hypocritical and committed atrocities with the empire.
jameshafoster's review against another edition
3.0
"The reality of colonial rule is that it always rests on the shoulders of a policeman or soldier beating a suspect or applying a cigarette to their testicles." Lovely stuff.
Very efficient and harrowing when focusing purely on telling a story, found it more problematic as historical text. Very clearly written as a response to New Labour's right turn and I didn't find the author's efforts to pair up Blair and Gladstone, New Labour and post-WW2 labour, etc convincing. Generalisations about how history has viewed the Empire felt under-sourced in comparison to the amount of really interesting (but brutal) primary sources. Still a very interesting read for more perspective on the historical reckoning going on
Very efficient and harrowing when focusing purely on telling a story, found it more problematic as historical text. Very clearly written as a response to New Labour's right turn and I didn't find the author's efforts to pair up Blair and Gladstone, New Labour and post-WW2 labour, etc convincing. Generalisations about how history has viewed the Empire felt under-sourced in comparison to the amount of really interesting (but brutal) primary sources. Still a very interesting read for more perspective on the historical reckoning going on
More...