Read e-book online A History of Britain: Fate of Empire 1776-2001 v. 3: The PDF

By Simon Schama

ISBN-10: 1847920144

ISBN-13: 9781847920140

'While Britain used to be wasting an empire, it was once discovering itself...' The compelling establishing phrases to "The destiny of the Empire", set the tone and schedule for the ultimate level of Simon Schama's epic voyage round Britain, her humans and her previous. Spanning centuries, crossing the breadth of the empire and overlaying an enormous expanse of issues - from the beginning of feminism to the destiny of freedom - he explores the forces that formed British tradition and personality from 1776 to 2000. the tale opens at the eve of a bloody revolution, yet no longer a British one. The French Revolution by no means fairly crossed the Channel, even though its spirit of fiery defiance and Romantic idealism did, sparking off a around of radical revolts and reforms that accrued momentum over the arriving century - from the Irish uprising to the Chartist Petition. the good query of the Victorian century used to be how the world's first commercial society may possibly come via its becoming pains with no falling aside in social and political clash. may the computing device age smash or enhance the associations that held Britain jointly, from the family members to the farm? And if the British Empire helped to make Britain reliable and wealthy, did it dwell as much as its promise to assist the governed in addition to the rulers? with the intention to answering those questions, "The destiny of the Empire" makes stops at either celebrations, just like the nice Exhibition, and catastrophes, just like the Irish potato famine and the Indian Mutiny. Amidst the army and fiscal shocks and traumas of the 20 th century, and during the voices of Churchill, Orwell and H. G. Wells, it asks the query that remains with us - is the sizeable weight of our background a blessing or a curse, a present or a millstone round the neck of our destiny? it's a monstrous compelling epic, made extra so by means of the energetic storytelling and massive daring characters on the middle of the motion. yet along flamboyant heroes, like Nelson and Churchill, Schama recollects unsung heroines and almost unknown enemies. along the grand rules, he exposes the grand illusions that rate untold lives. Schama seems head on on the evidence and asks, 'What went mistaken with the liberal dream?' The solutions emerge in "The destiny of the Empire", which unearths the residing beliefs of Britain's lengthy historical past, 'a heritage that tied jointly social justice with bloody-minded liberty'.