Career
He has been Beit Lecturer in Commonwealth History, University of Oxford and a Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford since 1984. In 2007 he was awarded the Wolfson History Prize for his book After Tamerlane: The Global Story of Empire.
(The British Empire, wrote Adam Smith, 'has hitherto been ...)
The British Empire, wrote Adam Smith, 'has hitherto been not an empire, but the project of an empire' and John Darwin offers a magisterial global history of the rise and fall of that great imperial project. The British Empire, he argues, was much more than a group of colonies ruled over by a scattering of British expatriates until eventual independence. It was, above all, a global phenomenon. Its power derived rather less from the assertion of imperial authority than from the fusing together of three different kinds of empire: the settler empire of the 'white dominions'; the commercial empire of the City of London; and 'Greater India' which contributed markets, manpower and military muscle. This unprecedented history charts how this intricate imperial web was first strengthened, then weakened and finally severed on the rollercoaster of global economic, political and geostrategic upheaval on which it rode from beginning to end.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521317894/?tag=2022091-20
(John Darwin's After Tamerlane, a sweeping six-hundred-yea...)
John Darwin's After Tamerlane, a sweeping six-hundred-year history of empires around the globe, marked him as a historian of "massive erudition" and narrative mastery. In Unfinished Empire, he marshals his gifts to deliver a monumental one-volume history of Britain's imperium-a work that is sure to stand as the most authoritative, most compelling treatment of the subject for a generation. Darwin unfurls the British Empire's beginnings and decline and its extraordinary range of forms of rule, from settler colonies to island enclaves, from the princely states of India to ramshackle trading posts. His penetrating analysis offers a corrective to those who portray the empire as either naked exploitation or a grand "civilizing mission." Far from ever having a "master plan," the British Empire was controlled by a range of interests often at loggerheads with one another and was as much driven on by others' weaknesses as by its own strength. It shows, too, that the empire was never stable: to govern was a violent process, inevitably creating wars and rebellions. Unfinished Empire is a remarkable, nuanced history of the most complex polity the world has ever known, and a serious attempt to describe the diverse, contradictory ways-from the military to the cultural-in which empires really function. This is essential reading for any lover of sweeping history, or anyone wishing to understand how the modern world came into being.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016QP8XQ/?tag=2022091-20
( John Darwin's After Tamerlane, a sweeping six-hundred-y...)
John Darwin's After Tamerlane, a sweeping six-hundred-year history of empires around the globe, marked him as a historian of "massive erudition" (the Guardian) and narrative mastery. In Unfinished Empire, he marshals his gifts to deliver a monumental one-volume history of Britain's imperium―a work that is sure to stand as the most authoritative and compelling treatment of the subject for a generation. It was hailed as one of the 10 best books of 2013 by Jonathan Yardley of The Washington Post. Darwin's penetrating analysis offers a corrective to those who portray the empire as either naked exploitation or a grand "civilizing mission." Far from ever having a "master plan," the British Empire was controlled by a range of interests often at loggerheads with one another and was as much driven on by others' weaknesses as by its own strength. Unfinished Empire is a remarkable, nuanced history of the most complex polity the world has ever known, and a serious attempt to describe the diverse, contradictory ways―military and cultural―in which empires really function.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1620400383/?tag=2022091-20
(Within twenty years of victory in the Second World War Br...)
Within twenty years of victory in the Second World War Britain had ceased to be a world power and her global empire has dissolved into fragments. With what now seems astonishing rapidity, and empire three centuries old, which had reached its greatest extent as late as 1921, was transformed into more than fifty sovereign states. Why did this great transformation come about? Had Britain simply become too weak in a world of superpowers? Had the pressure of colonial nationalism suddenly become overwhelming? Or had the British themselves decided that they no longer needed an empire, and that interests were better served by joining the rich man's club of Europe? In this short book, these and other theories are examined critically. The aim is not to present a detailed narrative of Britain's imperial retreat but to introduce the reader to the current state of debate in a rapidly expanding subject.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0631164286/?tag=2022091-20
(As the greatest imperial power before 1939 Britain played...)
As the greatest imperial power before 1939 Britain played a leading role in the great post-war shift in the relationship between the West and the Third World which we call 'decolonisation'. But why did decolonisation come about and what were its effects? Was nationalism in colonial societies or indifference in Britain the key factor in the dissolution of the British Empire? Was the decay of British power and influence an inevitable consequence of imperial decline? Did British policies in the last phase of empire reflect an acceptance of decline or the hope that it could be postponed indefinitely by timely concessions? This book aims to answer these questions in a general account of Britain's post-war retreat from empire.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0333292588/?tag=2022091-20
He has been Beit Lecturer in Commonwealth History, University of Oxford and a Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford since 1984. In 2007 he was awarded the Wolfson History Prize for his book After Tamerlane: The Global Story of Empire.
(The British Empire, wrote Adam Smith, 'has hitherto been ...)
(As the greatest imperial power before 1939 Britain played...)
( John Darwin's After Tamerlane, a sweeping six-hundred-y...)
(John Darwin's After Tamerlane, a sweeping six-hundred-yea...)
(Within twenty years of victory in the Second World War Br...)
(the meaning of decolonization)