Lawrence James

* A book that is narrative-driven, but full of outstanding scholarship and insight. * Subtitled 'The Making and Unmaking of British India' - how the British Raj shaped the Indian sub-continent as it is today.

Med det kalla krigets slut och globaliseringens segertåg trodde många att nationalism hörde till historien. Men det visade sig vara tvärtom. Idag ser vi hur nationalismen sprids över hela världen. Samtidigt växer sig populistiska och anti-demokratiska rörelser starka. Att höra hemma någonstans tycks bli allt viktigare i en tid av ekonomisk och social osäkerhet. I en globaliserad värld förknippas därför identitet, medborgarskap och tillhörighet med födelseort och en fast plats att bo på. Essäerna i denna antologi är baserade på Engelsbergsseminariet 2017 där olika former av identitet knutna till olika samhällsbildningar granskades. Hur uppstår en nation? Hur skapas enighet i ett imperium med en mångfald av folk? Huvudredaktör för denna illustrerade antologi är Kurt Almqvist.

Etsitkö jännitystä, uusia näkökulmia tai rentouttavaa lukuelämystä? Tutustu kirjakategorioihimme ja löydä seuraava suosikkikirjasi.

Napoleon warned 'Let China sleep; when she wakes, she will shake the world'. Lawrence James's magisterial history analyses the relationship between Britain and China between the beginning of the Opium Wars in 1839 and the transfer of power in Hong Kong in 1997. THE LION AND THE DRAGON reveals the part that Britain played in the awakening of China, then covers relations between the two countries during the period when an aroused China did indeed shake the world. Lawrence James also follows the parallel trajectories of four competitive empires - the British, the Chinese, the Russian and the Japanese - during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and then the fortunes of a fifth imperial power, the United States. Successive British governments saw China as a source of wealth which needed to be protected. Local objections were seen off by force (the 'Opium' wars of 1839-42, 1856-7 and 1859-60) whose results proved that the Qing emperors could not protect their country. Indian troops were deployed in each campaign and manned Britain's small garrisons in Hong Kong, Shanghai and other Treaty ports. Yet Britain never sought to make China into another India. Rather it allowed the emperors and their officials to govern, so long as they were docile and amenable to British needs. Paramount were the internal stability and fiscal responsibility that were the lubricants of trade. A unified nation with economic and military muscle, and aware of its distant past as one of the great nations of the world, has been intent on reversing her recent history. Lawrence James vividly chronicles a time when this huge nation's divisions encouraged foreigners to treat her as a treasure-house to be plundered at will. This warning from history explains why China's present rulers brook neither dissent nor popular unrest.

A compelling and entertaining history of the British middle class by the bestselling author of THE RISE AND FALL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, RAJ and WARRIOR RACE.

How in a hundred years Europeans coerced Africa into their various empires - and how Africa decolonised itself.

One of our finest narrative historians, Lawrence James has written a genuinely new biography of Winston Churchill, one focusing solely on his relationship with the British Empire. As a young army officer in the late nineteenth century serving in conflicts in India, South Africa, and the Sudan, his attitude toward the Empire was the Victorian paternalistic approach at once responsible and superior. Conscious even then of his political career ahead, Churchill found himself reluctantly supporting British atrocities and held what many would regard today as prejudiced views, in that he felt that some nationalities were superior to others, his (some might say obsequious) relationship with America reflected that view. This outmoded attitude was one of the reasons the British voters rejected him after a Second World War in which he had led the country brilliantly. His attitude remained decidedly old-fashioned in a world that was shaping up very differently. This ground-breaking volume reveals the many facets of Churchill s personality: a visionary leader with a truly Victorian attitude toward the British Empire."

One of our finest narrative historians, Lawrence James has written a genuinely new biography of Winston Churchill, one focusing solely on his relationship with the British Empire. As a young army officer in the late nineteenth century serving in conflicts in India, South Africa, and the Sudan, his attitude toward the Empire was the Victorian paternalistic approach--at once responsible and superior. Conscious even then of his political career ahead, Churchill found himself reluctantly supporting British atrocities and held what many would regard today as prejudiced views, in that he felt that some nationalities were superior to others, his (some might say obsequious) relationship with America reflected that view. This outmoded attitude was one of the reasons the British voters rejected him after a Second World War in which he had led the country brilliantly. His attitude remained decidedly old-fashioned in a world that was shaping up very differently. This ground-breaking volume reveals the many facets of Churchill's personality: a visionary leader with a truly Victorian attitude toward the British Empire.

* An extraordinary narrative of the richest and most powerful men and women in our history

* Uniquely complete account of the British Empire - Jan Morris' great Penguin trilogy PAX BRITANNICA only starts from 1837, rather than the 16th Century. * A modern classic of narrative history, updated to include the 1997 handover of Hong Kong.

Great Britain's geopolitical role has undergone many changes over the last four centuries. Once a maritime superpower and ruler of half the world, Britain now occupies an isolated position as an economically fragile island often at odds with her European neighbors. In The Rise and Fall of the British Empire, Lawrence James has written a comprehensive, perceptive, and insightful history of the British Empire. Spanning the years from 1600 to the present day, this critically acclaimed book combines detailed scholarship with readable popular history. "This is a stylish, intelligent and readable book." --The New York Times Book Review