CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NEW STATESMAN AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE'In this searing book, Priya Satia demonstrates, yet again, that she is one of our most brilliant and original historians' Sunil Amrith, author of Unruly WatersFor generations, the history of the British empire was written by its victors. British historians' accounts of conquest guided the consolidation of imperial rule in India...

A New Statesman Best Book of the Year“Powerful and radically important.”—Robert Gildea, Times Literary Supplement“Bracingly describes the ways imperialist historiography has shaped visions of the future as much as the past.”—Pankaj Mishra, New York Review of Books“An account of how the discipline of history has itself enabled the process of colonization…A coruscating and important reworking of the relationshi...

At the dawn of the twentieth century, British intelligence agents began to venture in increasing numbers to the Arab lands of the Ottoman Empire, a region of crucial geopolitical importance spanning present-day Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. They were drawn by the twin objectives of securing the land route to India and finding adventure and spiritualism in a mysterious and ancient land. But these competing desires created a dilemma: how were they to discreetly and patriotically gat...

At the dawn of the twentieth century, British intelligence agents began to venture in increasing numbers to the Arab lands of the Ottoman Empire, a region of crucial geopolitical importance spanning present-day Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. They were drawn by the twin objectives of securing the land route to India and finding adventure and spiritualism in a mysterious and ancient land. But these competing desires created a dilemma: how were they to discreetly and patriotically gat...

Brought to you by Penguin.For generations, the history of the British empire was written by its victors. British historians' accounts of conquest guided the consolidation of imperial rule in India, the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean. Their narratives of the development of imperial governance licensed the brutal suppression of colonial rebellion. Their reimagining of empire during the two world wars compromised the force of decolonization.In this bril...

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2018 BY THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE AND SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINEBy a prize-winning young historian, an authoritative work that reframes the Industrial Revolution, the expansion of British empire, and emergence of industrial capitalism by presenting them as inextricable from the gun trade"A fascinating and important glimpse into how violence fueled the industrial revolution, Priya Satia's book stuns with deep scho...

For generations, British thinkers told the history of an empire whose story was still very much in the making. While they wrote of conquest, imperial rule in India, the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean was consolidated. While they described the development of imperial governance, rebellions were brutally crushed. As they reimagined empire during the two world wars, decolonization was compromised. Priya Satia shows how these historians not only interpreted the major political events o...

The essential resource on military and political strategy and the making of the modern worldThe New Makers of Modern Strategy is the next generation of the definitive work on strategy and the key figures who have shaped the theory and practice of war and statecraft throughout the centuries. Featuring entirely new entries by a who’s who of world-class scholars, this new edition provides global, comparative perspectives on strategic thought from antiquity to...

《新政治家》（New Statesman）年度好書振聾發聵的道德之聲～人文學科的亂世警鐘當歷史宛如時間怪獸吞吐讓人混淆的謊言，本書痛快地揭開沾满了弱勢者鲜血的真相！人們認為歷史必然是一個進步的故事，而這種信念把我們帶到了災難的邊緣。史家之筆不只記錄過往，同時也在「塑造」現在與未來……歷史為何會成為大英帝國合理化征服與侵略的藉口？好幾個世代以來，英國的思想家們都在講述大英帝國的歷史，時至今日，英國仍有近半民眾認為，帝國的過往象徵某種光榮。在帝國主義早已被唾棄的現代，大英帝國為何仍舊得以保有正面評價？本書作者普莉亞．沙蒂婭認為：史家們的歷史寫作，正是造成此結果的原因。她一一檢視近代英國諸多赫赫有名的人物，像是湯瑪斯．潘恩、埃德蒙．柏克、詹姆斯與約翰．彌爾父子，及溫斯頓．邱吉爾等等，犀利的點出他們一方面讚揚英國的自由民主，一方面又為帝國擦脂抹粉，正當化帝國主義的殖民暴行。審視曾被英國人訴諸的特定史觀，例如「人們無能為力改變歷史傳承」、「帝國暴力是歷史進步...