Age of Empire
Last updated: 29/10/2007 - 16:39
Historian Saul David evokes the long, brutal story of the 'accidental' British Empire.
Victoria's Wars - The Rise of Empire by Saul David
In the early part of Queen Victoria’s reign, the British Empire was well on the way to becoming the greatest empire the world had ever seen. This is the story of how it happened and the people who made it happen.
In a fast-moving narrative ranging from London to the harsh terrain of India, Russia and the Far East, Saul David shows how the regime in Britain ruthlessly exploited her position as the world’s only superpower - largely as a result of the immense scale and reach of her combat power thanks to the Royal Navy - to expand and maintain an enormous globe-spanning dynasty. Yet - argues David - little of this unheard of territorial acquisition was planned or even sanctioned by the home government. Instead - he maintains - it was largely the work of the men and mechanisms on the ground, and to those at home it really did seem that the empire was acquired in - as he puts it: a ‘fit of absence of mind’.
Historian and broadcaster Saul David creates a vivid portrait of life on the violent fringes of empire, and of the seemingly endless and brutal wars that were fought in the name of trade, civilization and the balance of power...
Here's what some of the critics have made of Victoria's Wars - The Rise of Empire:
"Saul David, a splendid narrator, interweaves histories of each of the early wars of Victoria’s reign with the Queen’s own experiences...[He] observes similarities between the hubris of the world’s only superpower 150 years ago, and its successor in the 21st Century. Indeed the Afghan chapters would make salutary reading for George Bush and Tony Blair...Saints, lunatics and warlords...they are all here in David's pageant." - Max Hastings (Sunday Telegraph newspaper).
"A great narrative, a powerful story told at an exciting pace that never neglects the colourful details. It’s a tale of imperial expansion on an epic scale, and despite the many inhuman episodes, Victoria emerges as a most human monarch." - Princess Michael of Kent (writing in the Mail on Sunday newspaper).
Aside from this, his latest volume Saul David is also the author of The Indian Mutiny: 1857 - which was shortlisted for the Westminster Medal for Military Literature - and Zulu: the Heroism and Tragedy of the Zulu War of 1879 - a Waterstone’s Military 'History Book of the Year', among other critically-acclaimed history books. he was recently appointed Visiting Professor of Military History at the University of Hull.
For more information on the author visit his official website at: www.sauldavid.co.uk
The following links may also be useful for further reading on the British Empire:
Further reading on the British Empire:
Three Victories & A Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire 1714 - 1783 by Brendan Simms.
This highly original new book tells the story of Britain's extraordinary scramble to world power and how, through hubris and incompetence, it lost much of what it had gained. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, Britain was an important European power, but few would have predicted her global pre-eminence by 1760. As Brendan Simms shows with great flair and originality, Britain had a crucial card to play. It was the joining of the British crown to Hanover that gave Britain two empires: one scattered around the world and another firmly locked into Germany.
Three Victories & A Defeat is published by Allen Lane, 15 November, priced £30.
Victoria's Wars - The Rise of Empire is out now in paperback from Penguin. His first novel: Zulu Heart is due to be published in 2008.
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