Sathnam Sanghera

The author, who is of Sikh heritage but was born in Britain, examines the consequences of the British Empire on modern Britain. His account is balanced, not polemic, but despite his wit and enlightened outlook, traces of anger and exasperation still come through by the end of the book. Certainly the history of the Empire isn't taught well in Britain, and to most American readers it is probably even more obscure. This book doesn't avoid the most horrific incidents of massacre and genocide. As for the current controversies, such as removal of statues, Sanghera makes the perfectly reasonable point that taking down a statue of an imperialist does no more to change history than taking down Nazi symbols in Germany after the war changed the history of World War II.

Is there a book that tries to do the same thing for our American divide on politics, race, and history? Or is our own country past hope?… (mer)

This is a book that everyone should read, not because they're English but because we all have a shared imperial history whether they be British French Dutch Spanish or whatever. I cant imagine any colonial power had significantly different experiences and if they did then lets know about them.
History isn't worth knowing about unless we learn from it and apply it to the future - I wish I'd known about some of the events described in this book earlier in my life, and it seems odd that is has taken a fellow Brit with a slightly different back story to mine to bring it to our attention, but then he is an acclaimed journalist and wordsmith whereas I'm just a humble bookman.… (mer)