Summary Of The Book
Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World is an alternative viewpoint, deviating from the common theme of fighting against imperialism and colonization. From the 14th century onward, European countries vied with each other to acquire land and resources outside their own geographical and political boundaries. The discovery of the vast territories of America spurred the race into a frenzy.

The British settled in the vast open spaces of America, especially Virginia. Slowly, they started to acquire other lands in the New World. The colonial powers were also in a scramble to gain control of Asia and Africa. Ultimately, the British gained control of a majority of these lands. Empire : How Britain Made the Modern World says that the British viewed their acquisitions as places to settle in and exploit, rather than plunder and run as the Spaniards did.

The author says that this was ultimately for the good in America, as the British settlers slowly spread out, acquired land, exploited the natural resources, and made a country. He explains how in Africa, the Europeans united thousands of little tribal kingdoms and created 40 nations in about two decades. Then, they set out exploiting the resources in these territories. The British took over half of Africa. He talks about the missionaries and says that the colonists viewed themselves as taking civilization and commerce to heathens. He picks on the most famous of them all, David Livingston, and relates his exploits.

Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World does not neglect India, the jewel in Britain’s colonial crown. He says that the British bequeathed a system of education and a modern infrastructure to the country and also the English language. He says that the British Empire fell apart because of the depletion of its resources due to the two World Wars, which the British fought to save the world from Japanese Imperialism and the Nazis. To stress the difference between British colonialism from other European countries, he contrasts it with Spanish and Dutch colonialism and for the twentieth century, with the Nazis and the Japanese.

Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World was published in 2003.

About Niall Ferguson
Niall Ferguson is a British historian. Other books by Ferguson are Colossus: The Rise And Fall Of The American Empire, Great Degeneration, The War Of The World: History's Age Of Hatred, and Civilization: The West And The Rest. He writes on history, on colonialism and other diverse topics.

Niall Ferguson was born in 1964 in Glasgow. He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford. He completed his DPhil in 1989. He is a Professor of History at Harvard University. He focuses on imperialism, economic history and international history. He was named as one of the 100 most influential people by the Time Magazine in 2004. He has been married twice.