Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Empire

By: Niall Ferguson
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble, Niall Ferguson
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Penguin presents the unabridged audiobook edition of Empire by Niall Ferguson, read by Jonathan Keeble.

Once vast swathes of the globe were coloured imperial red, and Britannia ruled not just the waves but the prairies of America, the plains of Asia, the jungles of Africa and the deserts of Arabia. Just how did a small, rainy island in the North Atlantic achieve all this? And why did the empire on which the sun literally never set finally decline and fall?

Niall Ferguson's acclaimed Empire brilliantly unfolds the imperial story in all its splendours and its miseries, showing how a gang of buccaneers and gold diggers planted the seed of the biggest empire in all history - and set the world on the road to modernity.

©2017 Niall Ferguson (P)2017 Penguin Audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2
activate_samplebutton_t1

Listeners also enjoyed...

Kissinger cover art
Our America cover art
Colonialism cover art
The Anarchy cover art
Empire, Incorporated cover art
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World cover art
The Rothschilds cover art
Barbarians Inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays cover art
Why Nations Fail cover art
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the British Empire cover art
A History of Britain: Volume 1 cover art
Intellectuals and Society cover art
How the West Won cover art
Wealth, Poverty, and Politics cover art
The Great Democracies cover art
The British Empire cover art

Critic reviews

"The most brilliant British historian of his generation...Ferguson examines the roles of 'pirates, planters, missionaries, mandarins, bankers and bankrupts' in the creation of history's largest empire...he writes with splendid panache...and a seemingly effortless, debonair wit." (Andrew Roberts)
"Dazzling...wonderfully readable." ( New York Review of Books)
"A remarkably readable précis of the whole British imperial story - triumphs, deceits, decencies, kindnesses, cruelties and all." (Jan Morris)

What listeners say about Empire

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    642
  • 4 Stars
    161
  • 3 Stars
    31
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    598
  • 4 Stars
    118
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    553
  • 4 Stars
    142
  • 3 Stars
    28
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    5

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Makes you think

Mr Ferguson always makes me think and has done much to alter my view of history. This is, in general, another excellent book.
I would say that he takes a very macro view of the benefits of empire. Not unrealistic but viewed from a safe distance.
I would also add that I feel he falls into the trap of condemning Ireland for not fighting on the allied side in Ww2. Ireland was a tiny, impoverished nation that had, less than 20 years previously, finally won its freedom from its ancient enemy ie Britain. No government could have asked its citizens to fight for Britain without risking a descent into another bloody civil war.
He further fails to mention how Irelands neutrality was very strongly inclined towards Britain.
On the whole though this is a superb book and leaves you thinking about the world from a different perspective. I enjoyed it immensely.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Listen

It always helps to know a little bit about the subject matter before listening to a book like Empire. But you don't have to be an expert.
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed listening to this book. Packed full of little snippets that added to the larger picture. Currently The British Empire is a bit of a dodgy subject, but I felt the good and the bad were reflected and Niall Ferguson gave a balanced view.
Jonathan Keeble the narrator was fabulous.
Loved it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Superb

A fair, informative and balanced assessment of an often controversial and misunderstood subject. It taught me so much about perspective of this often difficult area of history. Thoroughly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A lot of people would do well to listen to this book

Fantastic book, well written and genuinely informative whilst remaining on the whole balanced
Britannia ruled the waves until its so called two faced friend became a Shylock

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable

An interesting overview of the history of the British empire. I thoroughly enjoyed this and thought it was well read.

Two small criticisms:
1. I did feel the overall structure could have been improved slightly and timelines jumped about a bit though appreciate it's difficult to stick to chronological or geographical structure given the vastness of the topic.
2. There was an undercurrent of the need to justify British Colonialism as being 'not too bad' or 'not as bad as other colonial powers rule'. I don't think this was entirely necessary and slightly undermined the impartiality of the analysis.

Overall I would recommend the book and on the whole it was well balanced and insightful.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An indepth anthology of the British Empire

Very detailed and the book delivers the weight and gravity that the British Empire had on the history of creating the modern world. Also how the British impacted on other empires that rose and fell along side its own. The shear size and organisational complexity in its heyday is breathtaking. The reader's delivery of characters within the storyline is excellent.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Superb

A short and sweet moral defence and history of the world's largest empire. Excellent narrator, highly engaging and clear narrative telling stories of the empire we're no longer allowed to hear.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A steady but very dense book

This book starts off very slowly and continues like this until it talks about WW2 and then it changes pace. Although it is slow it is very encapsulating and never brushes over anything.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

I really enjoy Jonathan Keeble’s narration. Brings so much to audio books. Another great example. I learned a lot from this book and will hear Amazing Grace with a new perspective going forward.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

a concise and not necessarily as expected look at imperial history Ferguson presents an un biased not wholly condemnatory conclusion that surprised me. I suspect not for everyone who has an entirely un nuanced view of empire but an entertaining and interesting overview.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!