Unfinished Empire

The Global Expansion of Britain

By: John Darwin

Narrated by: Alex Hyde-White

John Darwin's After Tamerlane, a sweeping six-hundred-year history of empires around the globe, marked him as a historian of "massive erudition" and narrative mastery.

In Unfinished Empire, he marshals his gifts to deliver a monumental one-volume history of Britain's imperium - a work that is sure to stand as the most authoritative, most compelling treatment of the subject for a generation.

Darwin unfurls the British Empire's beginnings and decline and its extraordinary range of forms of rule, from settler colonies to island enclaves, from the princely states of India to ramshackle trading posts. His penetrating analysis offers a corrective to those who portray the empire as either naked exploitation or a grand "civilizing mission."

Far from ever having a "master plan," the British Empire was controlled by a range of interests often at loggerheads with one another and was as much driven on by others' weaknesses as by its own strength. It shows, too, that the empire was never stable: to govern was a violent process, inevitably creating wars and rebellions. Unfinished Empire is a remarkable, nuanced history of the most complex polity the world has ever known, and a serious attempt to describe the diverse, contradictory ways - from the military to the cultural - in which empires really function.

This is essential reading for any lover of sweeping history, or anyone wishing to understand how the modern world came into being.

©2012 John Darwin (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

A Balanced Account of Empire

Other than getting used to the slightly jaded style of the narration this is a terrific book. Thematic but chronological it offers a relatively nonpartisan account of the British Empire. Unlike the Roman or Mongol Empires much of Britain’s just sort of happened but this did not mean there was a large benign element in its rule. The Settler colonies engaged in a savage conquest of local populations, introduced slavery on a grand scale in North America and at the very least followed policies of active intolerance of local populations. But there was far worse. Of course there was nuance in how ruler and ruled got along and Darwin explores that in detail.

Somewhat workmenlike

Darwin covers the bases, but there's not much new insight here. I found myself wanting more.

Excellent

Fantastic history of the Empire. Shows how the Empire was never finished and was always in a state of change.

A comprehensive tightly written MASTERPIECE

A very detailed analysis of the growth and decline of the English empire. The author identifies both the greatness and the shame. It is an unrivaled history in its factual detail and it’s clear-eyed analysis.

Good Read

I thought this was a fair and even handed review of the British empire. The trend these days is to blame empire for all of the problems and issues that former colonies are having, and to debase the motives of all involved in the creation of empire.
John Darwin takes a more honest look at the creation of empire and does an admirable job of presenting the motives and events that lead to the creation of empire.
This book is an overview, so occasionally lacks depth in some areas, and assumes a lot of knowledge on the readers part. Probably not the best book to start with, but if you are familiar with the British empire it is worth the read.