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Legacy of Violence
- A History of the British Empire
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 31 hrs and 36 mins
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Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian: a searing study of the British Empire that interrogates the pervasive use of violence throughout the 20th century and traces how these practices were exported, modified and institutionalised in colonies around the globe.
Sprawling across a quarter of the world's land mass and claiming nearly 500 colonial subjects, Britain's empire was the largest empire in human history. For many, it epitomised our nation's cultural superiority, but what legacy have we delivered to the world?
Spanning more than 200 years of history, Caroline Elkins reveals evolutionary and racialised doctrines that espoused an unrelenting deployment of violence to secure and preserve British imperial interests. She outlines how ideological foundations of violence were rooted in Victorian calls for punishing Indigenous peoples who resisted subjugation and how over time, this treatment became increasingly institutionalised. Elkins reveals how, when violence could no longer be controlled, Britain retreated from its empire, whilst destroying and hiding incriminating evidence of its policies and practices.
Drawing on more than a decade of research on four continents, Legacy of Violence implicates all sides of the political divide regarding the creation, execution and cover-up of imperial violence. By demonstrating how and why violence was the most salient factor underwriting both the empire and British imperial identity, Elkins upends long-held myths and sheds new light on empire's role in shaping the world today.
What listeners say about Legacy of Violence
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- Stef
- 13-05-23
Should be required reading in British schools
Deep research, put together in a forensic case for the criminality of the British Empire. Quite why there are still people who defend the Empire is mystifying. The cruelty, the evil, and the belief in British exeptionalism leading to treating "subjects of the empire" (victims of colonialism) as inferior, are disgusting.
Some of the book is disturbing listening, as it details British abuse, so beware.
I marked the performance down for the many obvious glaring mispronunciations,
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- Josh
- 05-02-23
Torn
An outstanding account of the darkest moments in the empires history. The epilogue however is rife with biases and assumptions of racism in modern British that are quiet easily countered with many alternative perceptions.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Antoinette
- 21-04-23
Essential History
The uncut, violent, lawless, history of the British Empire. This should be mandatory reading in the British Post 11 school curriculum. By the time they reach 6th form, age, the youngest generations will be devoid of any illusion that the 'civilising Empire' narrative bears any relation to reality. Harrowing, jaw-dropping, outstanding both in the organisation of story-telling, revelation, retelling of first hand accounts & narration. An outstanding & masterful exposure of the root causes of the mounting psychological ills that plague western societies from top to bottom to this day.
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- Amazon Customer
- 20-08-23
A must read if wanting to learn about the British empire
A well researched and detailed study on the true horrors of British empire. Sheds much needed light on how the British gained, maintained and subsequently fought to continue to control and subjugate millions of people and their resources across the world. Essential reading for understanding monden Britain today.
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- AC
- 25-06-23
Well researched, not well read, quite a slog.
First of all, why is a book written by a woman narrated by a man? When men doninate academic fields, this seems like an effort to minimise womens' work further.
I found the narration grating and the tone a bit too American entertainment / presenter voice for the gravity of the topic.
But it is incredibly well researched and a much needed expose of the horrors of the Empire. As such it is not an easy read and I found I had to keep listening to other things for a while to break it up. It is very long but maybe that was necessary to provide a comprehensive critique. It was a hard slog, but worth it. I learned a lot and had my opinions on the Empire utterly vindicated. I have a much greater understanding of the Palestine-Israel conflict too.
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5 people found this helpful
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- HGJohn
- 27-02-23
Essential History
There are few history books that can be regarded as essential reading. This is one. Elkins shows how the British Empire, in case after case, colony after colony, built on laws of repression, methods of torture and dubious dissembling, to try to hold on to its crumbling edifice.
A note on the performance: it is excellent , but delivered in an American accent (the. author is, after all, a Harvard Professor). Would the book’s searing message have been even more powerful if delivered in an English RP style accent?
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- MR T E KELLOW
- 22-04-23
A devastating indictment of the British Empire
Superbly written and researched. 31 hours of irrefutable evidence against anyone still proud of empire
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- Mr. Mark Vincent French
- 12-07-23
Amazing
I wrongly though I was w
Ell informed about the British e
Moire.An amazing piece of historical research.
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- L. JAMES
- 01-09-22
Disturbing
This was an amazing peice of work and i believe it should be required listening/reading for anyone who requires a comprehensive insight into the colonial policies of the british empire. At times i found myself thinking...did this really happen? so sickened i was by what was being recounted sometimes in quite explicit detail.
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10 people found this helpful
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- Torse
- 21-12-22
Remarkable researched documentary
This is a really remarkable research that smashes the illusion of the humanitarian imperialists. It fills in a lot of gaps that history deliberately omits and I am forced to appreciate the struggle of so many people to gain human rights and independence. It makes me puzzled why any of these ex-colonies want to continue to have the Royal firm as their head of state in the Commonwealth. Probably they should be reminded it was not an easy path.
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