Legacy of Violence
A History of the British Empire
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Legacy of Violence
Buy Now for $43.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Adam Barr
-
By:
-
Caroline Elkins
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian: a searing study of the British Empire that interrogates the pervasive use of violence throughout the 20th century and traces how these practices were exported, modified and institutionalised in colonies around the globe.
Sprawling across a quarter of the world's land mass and claiming nearly 500 colonial subjects, Britain's empire was the largest empire in human history. For many, it epitomised our nation's cultural superiority, but what legacy have we delivered to the world?
Spanning more than 200 years of history, Caroline Elkins reveals evolutionary and racialised doctrines that espoused an unrelenting deployment of violence to secure and preserve British imperial interests. She outlines how ideological foundations of violence were rooted in Victorian calls for punishing Indigenous peoples who resisted subjugation and how over time, this treatment became increasingly institutionalised. Elkins reveals how, when violence could no longer be controlled, Britain retreated from its empire, whilst destroying and hiding incriminating evidence of its policies and practices.
Drawing on more than a decade of research on four continents, Legacy of Violence implicates all sides of the political divide regarding the creation, execution and cover-up of imperial violence. By demonstrating how and why violence was the most salient factor underwriting both the empire and British imperial identity, Elkins upends long-held myths and sheds new light on empire's role in shaping the world today.
©2022 Caroline Elkins (P)2022 Penguin AudioWhat listeners say about Legacy of Violence
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sheena
- 01-11-2022
Elkins produces the evidence
This book is gold. One “read” is insufficient. It is comprehensive, and compelling in amassing the evidence of the British colonial project, it’s methods, personnel & evolution over time. It is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand contemporary government approaches to immigration, policing, law & order, rule of law in Britain & its former colonies. Highly recommended. Thank you Professor Elkins for the decade plus of research.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 20-07-2022
Changed my opinion on British history
Exposes the brutal and cruel history of the British empire, as well as the attempts to cover up, deflect and revise the narrative about the actions of the empires.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Judith Conway
- 12-01-2023
We the people need to know
Very uncomfortable subject matter which highlights the inadequacies of our history education, and sadly, I suspect, more history like that described in this book, is being written today.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- busby
- 28-07-2022
Genius
A compelling masterpiece which redefines the British Empire. A great book brilliantly read. Bravo! Thanks
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 08-09-2022
Compelling new history
Despite the difficulty and depressing nature of the subject matter this is history as it has to be told. the history of empire is overwhelmingly one of violence and repression. Claimed advantages are often illusory and made for unrelated reasons to the development of the tired. Caroline Elkins tells the lost or hidden stories of the cost of empire with great skill and a thoroughness that demolishes opposition. A great and necessary work.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- Paul
- 03-04-2024
To tell only one side of a story is to falsify it.
Elkins is a good storyteller. It is a shame that she is such an unreliable reporter. The hunt through archives was for evidence that fits the verdict. Every document she cites leads to the same conclusion.
This book is a testament to the narrowness of today’s ivory towers, furnished with luxury beliefs, and the new pieties. It falls into the double trap of using judgemental presentism, while seemingly unaware of its weird habits like constantly noticing race and sex. Only able to condemn but unwilling to build anything.
The author makes clear at the outset of Legacy of Violence that she views all use of force by colonial states as illegitimate because colonialism itself was, in her view, illegitimate. Coercion was central to initial acts of conquest and to the maintenance of rule over non-consenting populations She misses the question compared to what? Stepping outside the little modern bubble created by the English-speaking peoples in recent centuries. Gaining some direct contact with the world would reveal tyranny is the norm, from the smallest despotic clan leader to a genocidal god emperor. Some empires are worse some ideas are worse context matters.
My advice to prospective readers (and the author herself). After Legacy of Violence. A tonic - read Thomas Sowell's great trilogy: Race & Culture, Migration Culture, Conquest & Culture. - Enjoy! :)
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful