Empireland
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Average rating4.3
Sanghera demonstrates how so much of what is considered to be modern Britain is actually rooted in the imperial past: from how the British live to how they think, from the foundation of the NHS to the nature of their racism, from their distrust of intellectuals in public life to the exceptionalism that imbued the campaign for Brexit and the government's early response to the Covid crisis
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What our imperial past and present means to a modern Briton
In Empireland, Times journalist Sathnam Sanghera (a ‘second generation immigrant' conveys a very readable and well researched account of the British Empire. Along with how nostalgia about The Empire continues to shape the British psyche, our national politics and personal behaviour towards those from former colonies. It's all covered; a potted history of the empire: its origins, its modus operandi, its excesses and its consequences. At the end it leaves the reader in no doubt that the empire was “one of the biggest white supremacist enterprises in the history of humanity”.
This examination of our past is more necessary than ever, what with the current BLM movement and the conversation of whether various statues should remain in place. This should be compulsory reading in schools. Then a new generation would be aware of our past, be able to understand our present and move forward with fairness and compassion. We need to learn from our history and not to select the parts that leave us feeling more comfortable.
