Colonialism and imperialism Books

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Book SynopsisReviewed by Astrid Lustulin for Readers' Favourite: It is time to learn the stories of some nations in a more equitable way - not from the point of view of the conquerors but of the oppressed. This is why books like The Black History Truth: Jamaica by Pamela Gayle arouse great interest in a conscious reader. This book tells the story of 'The Sharpest Thorn in Britain's Caribbean Colonies,' focusing on the 16th to 19th centuries. Through extensive use of sources and images, Gayle sheds light on the injustices perpetrated by the British and analyses the stigmatization of Eurocentric historiography, which portrayed unfavorably behaviors and customs of groups of people it could not understand. Although the subject is complex, this book is clear and precise. Gayle tackles so many topics that she arouses the admiration of readers with her profound knowledge of Jamaica. She is very direct when she blames the British, but the evidence she brings is overwhelming. In The Black History Truth: Jamaica, you will not only find descriptions of struggles and injustices but also valuable information on local heroes and heroines, such as Nana Yaa Asantewaa and Queen Nanny, as well as customs that Europeans have misunderstood. Aft er reading this book, readers will understand why Jamaica was actually (as the subtitle describes it) "the sharpest thorn in Britain's Caribbean Colonies." I recommend this book to all those who want to see the history of humanity from a new perspective.Trade ReviewReviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favourite: Exploring the time between the 16th and 19th centuries when Jamaica was a part of the British colonial empire, the work seeks to uncover racial injustices and celebrate the roots of the many different black cultures.

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Book SynopsisThe Ottoman Empire was the only great European Muslim power and was at one time the most serious threat to European Christendom. Yet, by the turn of the nineteenth century, it was a crumbling power that, paradoxically, retained a strong military force. The Well-Protected Domains examines this anomaly, showing how the late Ottoman state grappled with the challenges of the modernity then changing the world. Selim Deringil traces the Ottoman state's pursuit of egitimation in many spheres of public life: state ceremonial, the iconography of buildings, the honours system, the language of the chancery, the proto- nationalist reformulation of Islamic legal practices, the efforts to inculcate the idea of 'Ottoman citizenry' through an expanded education system and the efforts of the Ottoman elite to present a 'civilized' image abroad. Based on unexplored sources in the Ottoman archives, The Well-Protected Domains brings to life the Hamidian period and provides readers with a unique view of the workings of the late Ottoman Empire.Trade Review'Selim Deringil's study of the Ottoman Empire's view of itself during its final half century gave me unalloyed pleasure. Elegantly written and impeccably researched ... {it} stands head and shoulders above anything I have seen in recent years on contemporary Turkey.' - David Barchard, CornucopiaTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Map Introduction ‘Long Live the Sultan!’: Symbolism and Power in the Hamidian Regime The Ottomanization of the Seriat ‘To Enjoin the Good and to Forbid Evil’: Conversion and Ideological Reinforcement Education: the Answer to all Evil? ‘They Confuse and Excite Minds’: The Missionary Problem. Ottoman Image Management and Damage Control The Ottoman ‘Self Portrait’ Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFar from having to 'scram from Africa' following the abandonment of her 'East of Suez' role, and despite the problems of Mau Mau, and the even the Suez debacle on a larger international stage, Britain continued to vigorously pursue imperial African interests. And Kenya was centre-stage. Much scholarship has been devoted to the Emergency (1952-60), fear of a post-Mau Mau civil war, de-colonization and setting up independent Kenya but little on British policy in pursuing her vital interests beyond independence. "Britain, Kenya and the Cold War", shows Britain maintaining her strategic priorities in Kenya - cultivating the moderate Kenyatta government, giving up the unacceptable colonial army base, but retaining military camps, rights of overflying, staging and training, and arming and training the Kenyan military, including internal security. Kenyan de-colonization and British defence interests were intimately linked and vital within the context of the Cold War and East-West regional rivalry.Trade Review'David Percox tells us, for the first time, and from intimate, previously secret, primary sources, the fascinating early history of this military relationship between Britain and Kenya. Kenya was never merely a 'Happy Valley' of aristocratic white settlement. In the First World War it was the base from which the Kaiser was driven out of East Africa and, in the Second, from which Mussolini was ejected from Ethiopia. The British army re-learned its guerrilla tactics in order to defeat Mau Mau in Kenya's forests, and looked to a Kenya base for conducting an 'East of Suez' strategy during the Cold War. No wonder the British protected and armed the man they had most feared, Jomo Kenyatta, erstwhile 'leader to darkness and death' transformed into robust Cold War ally. Percox ends this first-rate study by giving neo-colonialism a precise, ironic, and martial meaning.' - John Lonsdale, Emeritus Professor of Modern African History, University of Cambridge; 'The historical study of Kenya's decolonization, always a popular topic in African historiography, has reached a new stage... David Percox, drawing on newly accessible colonial records at the British Public Record Office and concentrating on defence and security issues, argues that the pathway to the transfer of power was far from the orderly one that recent historical studies have proposed.' - Robert Tignor, Rosengarten Professor of Modern and Contemporary History, Princeton UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction Defence and Internal Security, 1945-52 British Counter-Insurgency in Kenya, 1952-6 East Africa, East of Suez, 1956-7 East Africa, East of Suez II, 1957-9 Internal Security and Decolonisation, 1956-9 Internal Security and Decolonisation II, 1959-65 Defence and Decolonisation, 1956-65 Conclusion

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Book SynopsisPatrick John Dowling's 'Hedge Schools In Ireland' is a comprehensive chronicle of the underground education movement that emerged in 17th century Ireland, in the shadow of the oppressive 'penal laws.' These laws were directed against Irish Catholics and Ulster Presbyterians, as part of a long-standing British effort to impose their laws and customs, dating back to the failed Norman invasions of the 12th century. This book traces the resilience of the Gaelic Irish and Old English descendants who resisted Protestant conversion during the 16th-century Tudor reign and maintained their unique culture outside Dublin's Pale region. Dowling examines the political and religious tensions of the era, from Catholic loyalties being viewed as suspect due to European Catholic kingdoms supporting Irish rebellions, to the Cromwellian reconquest leading to land seizure from native Irish and Old English Catholics, effectively placing power in the hands of a Protestant minority. These tensions culminated in William III of Orange's victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, solidifying Protestant control. The book delves into the impact of the penal laws that curtailed the rights of Catholics and Dissenters, relegating Catholic priests to fugitive status and banning Catholic schools between 1723 and 1782. Consequently, the vast majority of the Irish population was denied formal education, cementing the link between Catholicism and Irish identity. In response, 'hedge' schools emerged clandestinely to educate those who could not afford schooling abroad. Contrary to the term's implications, most of these makeshift schools operated in private houses and barns. The book recounts how these schools evolved from hidden institutions into an acknowledged part of Irish society, with records even appearing in British censuses. Dowling highlights the influence of 18th-century Enlightenment values, liberal Protestant planters identifying as Irish, and calls for reforms sparked by the 1798 rebellion and Daniel O'Connell's peaceful 19th-century Catholic Emancipation movement. By 1831, the National School system was established, marking the decline of hedge schools, with Catholic Church-run national schools dominating by the late 19th century. Dowling's work concludes by noting the continuing existence of hedge school forms into the late 19th century, underscoring the tenacity of Irish commitment to education.Table of ContentsThe Disappearance of the Old Order Education and the Penal Code English Schools in Ireland on Public and Private Foundation before 1782 The Education Societies The Rise of The Hedge Schools The Hedge School at Work The Standard of Knowledge Attained School Books The Making of the Schoolmaster The Income of the Schoolmaster The Social Prestige of the Schoolmaster The Poet Schoolmasters The Teacher of the City "Academy" The Last of the Philomaths

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Book SynopsisAn avowed republican investigates the unexpected durability and potential benefits of constitutional monarchies. When he was deposed in Egypt in 1952, King Farouk predicted that there would be five monarchs left at the end of the century: the kings of hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades, and England. To date, his prediction has proved wrong, and while the twentieth century saw the collapse of monarchies across Europe, many democratic societies have retained them. God Save the Queen is the first book to look at constitutional monarchies globally, and is particularly relevant given the pro-democracy movement in Thailand and recent scandals around the British and Spanish royal families. Is monarchy merely a feudal relic that should be abolished, or does the division between ceremonial and actual power act as a brake on authoritarian politicians? And what is the role of monarchy in the independent countries of the Commonwealth that have retained the Queen as head of state? This book suggests that monarchy deserves neither the adulation of the right nor the dismissal of the left. In an era of autocratic populism, does constitutional monarchy provide some safeguards against the megalomania of political leaders? Is a President Boris potentially more dangerous than a Prime Minister Boris?Trade Review‘At 153 pages God Save the Queen is a quick read, and Altman packs a lot into it, whizzing through the histories and current political climates of an array of countries to gain better understanding of the way monarchies have sustained themselves and evolved. … It’s the ability, in such a relatively brief space of words, to capture the breadth of diversity and nuances of modern monarchy, that makes Altman’s exploration of the phenomenon truly fascinating.’ -- Ben Pobjie * The Australian *‘This very readable little book encourages us to think more about the game of thrones and the different ways it might be played.’ -- Jeff Sparrow * The Age *‘A useful reconnaissance across a very large field of study.’ -- David McIntyre * New Internationalist *‘God Save the Queen is a book which deserves a wide readership.’ -- Bernard Whimpress * The Newtown Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisThis Palgrave Pivot revisits the topic of how British colonialism moulded work and life in India and what kind of legacy it left behind. Did British rule lead to India’s impoverishment, economic disruption and famine? Under British rule, evidence suggests there were beneficial improvements, with an eventual rise in life expectancy and an increase in wealth for some sectors of the population and economy, notably for much business and industry. Yet many poor people suffered badly, with agricultural stagnation and an underfunded government who were too small to effect general improvements. In this book Roy explains the paradoxical combination of wealth and poverty, looking at both sides of nineteenth century capitalism. Between 1850 and 1930, India was engaged in a globalization process not unlike the one it has seen since the 1990s. The difference between these two times is that much of the region was under British colonial rule during the first episode, while it was an independent nation state during the second. Roy's narrative has a contemporary relevance for emerging economies, where again globalization has unleashed extraordinary levels of capitalistic energy while leaving many livelihoods poor, stagnant, and discontented. Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: The making of British India.- Chapter 3: The business of the cities.- Chapter 4: Unyielding land.- Chapter 5: A poor state.- Chapter 6: End of famine.- Chapter 7: A different story? The princely states.- Chapter 8: Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a new analysis of the contested history of one of the most violent wars of decolonisation of the twentieth century – the Algerian War/ the Algerian Revolution between 1954 and 1962. It brings together an engaging account of its origins, course and legacies with an incisive examination of how interpretations of the conflict have shifted and why it continues to provoke intense debate. Locating the war in a century-long timeframe stretching from 1914 to the present, it multiplies the perspectives from which events can be seen. The pronouncements of politicians are explored alongside the testimony of rural women who provided logistical support for guerrillas in the National Liberation Front. The broader context of decolonisation and the Cold War is considered alongside the experiences of colonised men serving in the French army. Unpacking the historiography of the end of a colonial empire, the rise of anti-colonial nationalism and their post-colonial aftermaths, it provides an accessible insight into how history is written. Table of Contents1. Context and Historiography2. Origins, 1914-19543. The Course of the War, 1954-19624. Legacies, 1962-2020

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Book SynopsisThis open access book explores the role of religion in England's overseas companies and the formation of English governmental identity abroad in the seventeenth century. Drawing on research into the Virginia, East India, Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, New England and Levant Companies, it offers a comparative global assessment of the inextricable links between the formation of English overseas government and various models of religious governance across England's emerging colonial empire. While these approaches to governance varied from company to company, each sought to regulate the behaviour of their personnel, as well as the numerous communities and faiths which fell within their jurisdiction. This book provides a crucial reassessment of the seventeenth-century foundations of British imperial governance.Table of Contents1. Introduction: Introduction: ‘A Just Government’: Empire, Religion, Chaplains and the Corporation .- 2. The Virginia Company and the Foundations of Religious Governance in English Commercial Expansion .- 3. The Plymouth Company and Massachusetts Bay Company (1622–1639): Establishing Theocratic Corporate Governance .- 4. Apostasy and Debauchery (1601–1660): Behaviour, Passive Evangelism and the East India and Levant Company Chaplains .- 5. The Massachusetts Bay Company and New England Company (1640–1684): Exportation, Revaluation and the Demise of Corporate Theocratic Governance .- 6. The East India Company (1661–1698): Territorial Acquisition and the ‘Amsterdam of Liberty’ .- 7. Conclusion .- 8. Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisChapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. A New World to Explore.- Chapter 3. The Spanish Empire.- Chapter 4. The Spanish Armada.- Chapter 5. The East India Company and the British Empire.- Chapter 6. The American Revolution.- Chapter 7. The Napoleonic Wars.- Chapter 8. The Mexican-American War.- Chapter 9. The American Civil War.- Chapter 10. The Crimean War.- Chapter 11. CINC: A Measure of Military Capability.- Chapter 12. Bismark’s Wars.- Chapter 13. The Spanish American War.- Chapter 14. The Russo-Japanese War.- Chapter 15. The Schlieffen Plan.- Chapter 16. The Sideshows: Italy, Gallipoli and the Middle East.- Chapter 17. Palestine and Sykes-Picot.- Chapter 18. The Treaty of Brest Litovsk.- Chapter 19. The Ludendorff Offensives.- Chapter 20. The Treaty of Versailles and the Great Depression.- Chapter 21. Adolf Hitler and the Rise of National Socialism.- Chapter 22. Operation Barbarossa.- Chapter 23. A Dream of A Rising Sun.- Chapter 24. The Battle of Midway.- Chapter 25. Closing.

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