2.6 billion people are inhabitants of former British colonies. The empire's influence upon the quarter of the planet it occupied, and its gravitational influence upon the world outside it, has been profound: from the spread of Christianity by missionaries to nearly 1 in 3 driving on the left side of the road, and even shaping the origins of international law. Yet Britain's idea of its imperial history and the world's experience of it are two very different things.
In Empireworld, award-winning author and journalist, Sathnam Sanghera extends his examination of British imperial legacies beyond Britain. Travelling the globe to trace its international legacies - from Barbados and Mauritius to India and Nigeria and beyond - Sanghera demonstrates just how deeply British imperialism is baked into our world. And why it's time Britain was finally honest with itself about empire.
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
In his ground-breaking new book, Sathnam Sanghera traces the legacies of British empire around the world.
'A wonderful book' Rory Stewart
'Nuanced and deeply researched' Financial Times
'Not just a welcome corrective but a book for our times' Peter Frankopan
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The British empire was built on slavery, but it also pioneered abolition.
It spread democracy, but it also seeded geopolitical instability.
It devastated nature but it also gave birth to modern notions of environmentalism.
In this urgent sequel to Empireland, award-winning author and journalist Sathnam Sanghera extends his examination of British imperial legacies beyond Britain to the wider world.
Travelling across outposts of the former empire from Barbados and Mauritius to India and Nigeria and beyond, Sanghera puts to bed the conventional balance-sheet view of imperial history where the good is merely weighed up against the bad. In Empireworld, Sanghera instead seeks out nuance to reveal how contradictory forces of the British empire have shaped our world and what they mean for our place within it today.
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'An absolute masterpiece' James O'Brien
'Puts Sanghera in the firmament of great imperial historians' Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, i
'Profoundly moving' Elizabeth Day
