Empireland
How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain
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Empireland
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Narrated by:
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Homer Todiwala
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By:
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Sathnam Sanghera
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize 2021.
A Sunday Times best seller.
In his brilliantly illuminating new book Sathnam Sanghera demonstrates how so much of what we consider to be modern Britain is actually rooted in our imperial past. In prose that is, at once, both clear-eyed and full of acerbic wit, Sanghera shows how our past is everywhere: from how we live to how we think, from the foundation of the NHS to the nature of our racism, from our distrust of intellectuals in public life to the exceptionalism that imbued the campaign for Brexit and the government's early response to the COVID crisis. And yet empire is a subject weirdly hidden from view.
The British Empire ran for centuries and covered vast swathes of the world. It is, as Sanghera reveals, fundamental to understanding Britain. However, even among those who celebrate the empire there seems to be a desire not to look at it too closely - not to include the subject in our school history books, not to emphasise it too much in our favourite museums.
At a time of great division, when we are arguing about what it means to be British, Sanghera's book urges us to address this bewildering contradiction. For it is only by stepping back and seeing where we really come from that we can begin to understand who we are and what unites us.
©2021 Sathnam Sanghera (P)2021 Penguin AudioCritic Reviews
"This remarkable book shines the brightest of lights into some of the darkest and most misunderstood corners of our shared history." (James O'Brien)
"Lucid but never simplistic; entertaining but never frivolous; intensely readable while always mindful of nuance and complexity - Empireland takes a perfectly-judged approach to its contentious but necessary subject." (Jonathan Coe)
What listeners say about Empireland
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Helen Blackburn
- 10-12-2022
Essential listening
This book, like I am sure it did for so many, taught me more about Britains history of Empire, than all my years of schooling. An essential read/listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Toby Eccles
- 01-02-2023
Brilliant!
A journalist makes sense of a complex series of subjects in a way I found continually interesting and absorbing. A very important contribution to the global conversation about the history and legacy of imperialism.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- G. Lynch
- 11-06-2022
Interesting
The book provides an interesting look into aspects of the British Empire. The book tends to focus on Britain's colonisation of India and the East Indian Company interests. Empire Land portrays the story of Britain's exploits in India as a cameo of Britain's Colonial mistreatments across its Empire. This perspective provides insight into a legacy that Britain is still trying to reconcile today.
For me, the story of Empire Land also provides insight into the perversity of human nature - with its self-serving motivations of greed, cruelty, and hypocrisy. It would be true to say that every nation has a dark side to its history that it would prefer to forget. Empire Land is a helpful insight into humanity, and with it an important warning of the very real potential for good or otherwise in every one of us.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Simpson from Oz
- 11-03-2024
Damnation of the British Empire
A scholarly and relentless encyclopaedia of the evils of Imperialism, Colonialism and Slavery. In fairness there is some “on the other hand” but the focus is a well researched litany of transgressions of the British Empire. Certainly makes the convincing case against the “empires of mind as a toxic mix of nostalgia and amnesia”. However the woke whininess not helped by the narrators imperious delivery is exhausting. Short of studying more imperial history and getting Euro museums to repatriate much of their collections, I am not sure what I can do to make amends.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 02-02-2024
At last!!!
A totally brilliant, incredibly researched, readable and realistic - if chilling, account of Empire that is still alive and well and still running through the veins of western capitalism.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Graham
- 04-03-2024
great book, well read, no chapter titles
great story on empire, pleasant reading, such a pity the publishers yet again couldn't be bothered adding chapter titles even though they are mentioned at the start of each chapter. yould make navigation much easier.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Phil
- 02-10-2024
A masterpiece
The Empire …what is the point of having a mind if you are not prepared to ever think about changing it. Listened to this, mind challenged and now changed. An epic work. Should be on every reading list or school curriculum.
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