About this title: Noted British historian Ferguson here offers a positive take on the lasting effects of the British Empire, its history, and its significance in addressing the United States. EMPIRE makes a case for the benefits of bringing the rule of law to isolated locales and argues that new empires, particularly the U.S., must not step back from this obvious ...
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Description: Good. 0465023290 Book could have a shelf wear, or a bump, or sunfade to edges. These are new unread books from the publisher with one of these conditions. See are feedback as customers are satisfied in how we grade our books. Fast shipping and customer service is our number 1 priority! read more
Description: Good. 0465023290 Fast Shipping. Book torn, creased, missing dust jacket or otherwise damaged. Customer Service is our #1 priority. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Basic Books
Date Published: 2004-04-13
ISBN-13:9780465023295ISBN:0465023290
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780465023295. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Basic Books
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780465023295ISBN:0465023290
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Description: New in new dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 392 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
"Eh. I tried to read this but I think the friend that leant it to me gave it the wrong impression before I started (they said it was funny in an almost Douglas Adams way). I found it dry and unreadable and gave up after 20 pages or so."
"Ferguson is known as something of an apologist for the British Empire. While frankly aknowledging its many sins, he praises, among other things, the ability it had to provide an almost corruption-free civil administration to nearly 1/4 of the world's land/people; the role it played in creating a globalized-economy (and an incredibly large free-trade zone) which raised living standards, created vital infrastructure and provided opportunities for growth worldwide. In fact, he provides examples of how even the poorest colonies (mostly in Africa) experienced paralellel economic growth with Great Britain until the end of the empire in the 60s.
He also discusses the United States as the succesor to the Empire--he believes that nationalist movements did not sound the death-knell of the Empire, but rather that it wore itself out in contests with other advancing empires (the Japanese, 2nd and 3rd Reichs)--and that the US is the only contemporary power capable of providing the stability that the British did in their day. In other words, he argues that "empire" has gotten a bad name; that while many instances of British misconduct/crimes exist, that, on the whole, they provided a basically positive administration, much more positive than the Germans, Japanese, Russians/Soviets, Belgians and even the French provided/or would've provided had they been in charge of British territories. This he says was due to the interesting British mixture of free press, elective government, liberal civil society (missionaries and others, "the NGOs of the 19th century"), and public conscience, vs the ruthlessness of the Japanese in Asia, the Belgians in the Congo, etc. he basically throws down the gauntlet and says, "America, you have an informal, economic, sphere-of-influence empire now (just as the British did prior to colonizing several areas), maybe you should formalize it. He couches this in terms of the sorts of regimes that have sprung up in the wake of decolonization (particularly in Africa), and the ever-expanding influence of the Chinese, whose values are a far cry from the liberal sentiments expected in the West. In the end, his argument is, "somebody is going to take control of these weak states, economically if not militarily, why shouldn't it be the US (inheritor of Western liberal govenrment) rather than the Chinese?
I would argue that the US, which formally headed down the road of empire in the Manifest Destiny days/wake of the Spanish-American War, has always/will always see itself as interventionist rather than colonialist, just because of our inherent distrust of empire. But, Ferguson offers some interesting arguments, even if we red-blooded Americans are tempted--and rigthly so--to dismiss them almost without argument."
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