Ten Cities that Made an Empire

Product Description

Boston, Bridgetown, Dublin, Cape Town, Calcutta, Hong Kong, Bombay, Melbourne, New Delhi, and twentieth-century Liverpool: since the end days of Empire, Britain's colonial past has been the subject of passionate debate. Tristram Hunt goes beyond the familiar arguments about Empire being good or bad and adopts a new approach, describing the processes of exchange and adaptation that moulded the colonial experience and that, in their turn, transformed the culture, economy and identity of the British Isles.

'Ingenious and timely, a lively and cliché-busting survey of imperial history.' Maya Jasanoff, Guardian

'It captures a vast, sprawling enterprise so very well. This work, like the empire it describes, is something unique.' Paul Kennedy, Financial Times

'Rethinks the whole history of colonialism. From Boston to Liverpool, via Dublin, Calcutta and others, Hunt weaves a colourful account of trade and slavery, violence and aesthetic splendour.' Sinclair McKay, Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year

'Lively, original, a cracking read.' Robert Service, Observer

'Enthralling, superb . . . as Hunt shows in compelling tours of ten cities, whether the colonial past is celebrated or restored, ignored or eradicated, the legacy of the British Empire is indelibly stamped on the urban fabric.' Ben Wilson, Daily Telegraph