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  • Empire

  • How Britain Made the Modern World
  • By: Niall Ferguson
  • Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
  • Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (150 ratings)

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Empire

By: Niall Ferguson
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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Publisher's 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

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

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niall ferguson at his articulate and erudite best

brilliant historical , political, geographic ,military and economic analysis.
covers pros and cons of the empire fairly

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Man that was awesome

Loved it, for something that go's for 16 hours I didn't expect every minute of it to be interesting, it was.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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enjoyable stuff

interesting to reflect on the current state of Britain as it seeks to exit the EU and attempt one last hurrah as it goes down fighting. sad in a way, so sad, very sad.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic book

Best history book I’ve finished this year. Not afraid to look at both the good and bad of the British Empire.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Yet again, Ferguson has created a brilliant Masterpiece of Insights and Explanation.

Without doubt, Niall Ferguson has again produced a historical epic equal to it’s subject matter. The art of making the complex, simple, is the hallmark and genius of this extraordinary historian.

Whether the reader is pro-British or anti-empire, the insights and honesty of this work will leave one satisfied, enlightened, educated and entertained. Not simply a text book of “Who, What, Where, When and How”, Ferguson engages every aspect of the for and against debate to leave even the best read amongst us gasping with admiration at his clarity and erudition.

Simply a “must read” for the student of the post-modern world.

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British history as it used to be

I loved this book. It reminded me of my childhood when we could be unashamedly proud of our history. All of the questionable actions that we are not so proud including the Opium Wars and the Boer War concentration camps are covered in full but it refuses to look at the acts of the past through contemporary modern values. The research is superb, the pace just right and the detail just sufficient to satisfy even the serious historian.

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A great listen.

Fascinating journey along the history of the British Empire. Beautifully written and read.
Thoroughly enjoyed it despite a couple of questions throughout.

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Good and bad

Wide ranging book, all be it with a little bias .. but still worth a listen

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Fascinating, challenging - with a structure that is not easy to follow

A fascinating detailed exploration of the rise and the fall of the empire from the author’s empire-sympathetic perspective. Fits the English taught narrative of what happened and why - but those on the receiving end of the empire’s at-times appalling behaviour will no doubt struggle with this. As an audiobook, the structure is hard to follow - maybe better to be read so that the reader can flick back and forth to try to hang onto the authors journey

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Food for Thought

some very bold statements about the past and recommendations for the future. everything is backed up with relevant examples. I learnt a lot!

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