Scan barcode
A review by steelcitygator
The Decline and Fall of the British Empire, 1781-1997 by Piers Brendon
4.0
A remarkably look at the time and place of British overseas (mostly) failures from Yorktown to Thatcher, I commend Piers Brendon for the work. It's funny in a way, my random book picker from my TBR list gave me [book:The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Complete and Unabridged|30622234] only a few months before this. Cosmic in a way considering the way Brendon uses it as a through line throughout the work.
Firstly, I must give the author make 800 pages of text so engaging. I often read reference books of various length and have 2 or 3 a year that inch toward 1K+ and I will confidently say that few do such a good job on those points. The one area it seems to bog down a bit is a few chapter stretch near the end focusing on African colonial holdings. It's fully possible the subject matter left him no choice (and considering the quality of the rest of the work I lean this way) but that span felt a bit repetitive to open the last quarter or so of the story of the Empire.
Outside that there's little to complain about. Brendon does as is stated in the title. Describing the horrors and occasional benefits, the pomp and circumstance, the HUGE personalities that occupy the government houses (though the real eccentrics are often more included to be foot men carving paths through desserts, jungles, and mountains). I highly recommend it to anyone that has interest in the subject. My only real question would be why The Troubles didn't get a serious mention in the latter stages considering the importance of Irish independence in the narrative of British colonialism.
Firstly, I must give the author make 800 pages of text so engaging. I often read reference books of various length and have 2 or 3 a year that inch toward 1K+ and I will confidently say that few do such a good job on those points. The one area it seems to bog down a bit is a few chapter stretch near the end focusing on African colonial holdings. It's fully possible the subject matter left him no choice (and considering the quality of the rest of the work I lean this way) but that span felt a bit repetitive to open the last quarter or so of the story of the Empire.
Outside that there's little to complain about. Brendon does as is stated in the title. Describing the horrors and occasional benefits, the pomp and circumstance, the HUGE personalities that occupy the government houses (though the real eccentrics are often more included to be foot men carving paths through desserts, jungles, and mountains). I highly recommend it to anyone that has interest in the subject. My only real question would be why The Troubles didn't get a serious mention in the latter stages considering the importance of Irish independence in the narrative of British colonialism.