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The Rise and Fall of the British Empire - Patrick N. Allitt The Great Courses 2009 Paperback

by Patrick N. Allitt (Author)

4.6 14 ratings

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At its peak in the early 20th century, Britain's empire was the largest in the history of the world, greater even than that of ancient Rome. It embraced more than a fourth of the world's population and affected the course of Western civilization in ways almost too numerous to imagine.

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ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00OSMNEOU
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.01 pounds

Best Sellers Rank: #7,453,821 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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The Great Courses

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It all began with just a few videotapes—and a brilliant inspiration.

Tom Rollins, the founder of The Great Courses, was a law student at Harvard University and was facing an important exam on the U.S. Federal Rules of Evidence—an exam for which he wasn't prepared.

Dreading the notoriously boring subject but knowing his success depended on understanding the material, Rollins obtained videotapes of 10 lectures by a noted authority on the subject, Professor Irving Younger. Rollins planted himself in front of his television late at night and put the first tape into his VCR. What he discovered changed his life.

The tapes were unlike anything Rollins had experienced in his Harvard lecture halls. Professor Younger's lectures were outrageously insightful, impressively thorough, and engagingly witty. Most important: They hammered home the concepts in a way that made the subject both accessible and interesting. They made learning not a chore to be accomplished but an adventure to be experienced.

Rollins played all 10 hours of those lectures nearly nonstop. A few days later he passed his exam and went on to make an "A" in the course.

He never forgot the unique power of recorded lectures by a great teacher—the way that a bright mind could ignite a passion for lifelong learning. And years later, in 1990, Rollins founded The Great Courses to share that unforgettable experience with the rest of the world.

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MP in FC

Great Insights Into the Positive and Negative Impacts of the Empire

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2024

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I had some awareness of the history of the British empire, but well short of the insightful and interesting expertise presented by this author. In particular, I received a first class education on the consistently destructive impacts as the British empire relinquished (abandoned?) it's colonies in the 20th century (Ireland/N. Ireland, African colonies, India, Middle East, etc.). Only Canada, Australia, and New Zealand escaped this devastation due to well established political and economic systems. I also enjoyed how the author sprinkled in some humor and very entertaining historical quotes. Well done!

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Kristi R.

“What should we suppose must naturally be the consequence of our carrying on a slave trade with Africa?..."

Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2016

“What should we suppose must naturally be the consequence of our carrying on a slave trade with Africa? With a country, vast in its extent, not utterly barbarous, but civilized in a very small degree? Does anyone suppose a slave trade would help their civilization?” William Wilberforce

1 The Sun Never Set

2 The Challenge to Spain in the New World

3 African Slavery and the West Indies

4 Imperial Beginnings in India

5 Clive and the Conquest of India

6 Wolfe and the Conquest of Canada

7 The Loss of the American Colonies

8 Exploring the Planet

9 Napoleon Challenges the Empire

10 The Other Side of the World

11 Abolition of the Slave Trade and Slavery

12 Early African Colonies

13 China and the Opium Wars

14 Britain—The Imperial Center

15 Ireland—The Tragic Relationship

16 India and the "Great Game"

17 Rebellion and Mutiny in India

18 How Canada Became a Nation

19 The Exploration and Settlement of Africa

20 Gold, Greed, and Geopolitics in Africa

21 The Empire in Literature

22 Economics and Theories of Empire

23 The British Empire Fights Imperial Germany

24 Versailles and Disillusionment

25 Ireland Divided

26 Cricket and the British Empire

27 British India between the World Wars

28 World War II—England Alone

29 World War II—The Pyrrhic Victory

30 Twilight of the Raj

31 Israel, Egypt, and the Suez Canal

32 The Decolonization of Africa

33 The White Dominions

34 Britain after the Empire

35 Colonial and Postcolonial Literature

36 Epitaph and Legacy

These 36 lectures and 140 page PDF tell the story of the British Empire from its very beginnings to its death knell. Professor Alitt does not sugar coat anything but tells us that Britain truly believed they were the masters of the earth and were the best to rule over it. He also tells us that the true reason of their domination was the love of money, which I think, is true of any conquerors. Deep down it is always about money. If it no longer pays than it is time to cut your losses.

I learned a great deal about British history that I never learned in high school. The British empire began with the colonies in America and ended with South Africa apartheid. At one time, the sun never set on the British Empire. The professor also says that the people of Great Britain are still better off today than they ever were before.
I learned about the Irish problem and home rule. I learned that Britain learned from their loss of the American colonies and never went to war again with any of their colonies but compromised. I learned that when the empire allowed the colonies to separate from them there usually was chaos and bloodshed as the various factions sought revenge and power over their perceived enemies.

The professor also taught us about the importance of cricket and the wealth of literature that came from the British Empire. From Rudyard Kipling “Gunga Din” to Alan Paton’s “Cry The Beloved Country.”

Anyone with a love of British history will enjoy these lectures. They also will be thirsty for more information and will continue to pursue this hunger with more books on the empire. I think that should be the goal of every teacher, to awaken that hunger for knowledge in his or her students.

4 people found this helpful

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Mehdi Moradi

Travel around the world

Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2019

I loved this to the point of fascination. The lecturer has managed to turn history into story. I particularly liked that this has very little about the machinations of British Court and instead covers every part of the world the empire has touched from India to Canada and the world in between. He also makes it fun to listen the way he delivers the lectures. So many fascinating facts I was completely ignorant about: how sail ships were positively awful means of traversing the oceans, and how people still managed to do it with these. How Alexander Mackenzie discovered and explored Canada’s extreme north by mistake, so many great narratives with a unified theme. Hours and hours of fun and learning. Have a world map handy as you will need it to fully appreciate this.

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Bobalou

Fantastic course, Professor

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2012

I have taken many of Professor Allitt's courses and each one has been outstanding. His view as a British- American citizen teaching at Emory, provides a unique look into our former Colonial ruler. I found the Rise and Fall of the British Empire one of the best history courses I have ever taken. (IMy Masters Degree is in History). He is a great lecturer and keeps it very interesting. I sat an watched several hours of his lecturers and was entertained and interested throughout. Great depth and excellent narrative. Well worth the time and I appreciate Dr. Allitt's fine work.

One person found this helpful

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Esther Dan

Great and thorough study experience

Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2015

An extensive thorough overview of the British Empire

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Gilbert M. Stack

Really a History of Pieces of the Empire Instead of the Whole

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2021

It’s hard to study the world history of the past few centuries without encountering the British Empire which was so encompassing that the British could proudly proclaim that the sun never set upon it. This Great Courses series attempts to look at the empire in its totality, which it does by bouncing around the globe in different time periods and observing how different pieces of the empire were obtained, evolved, and eventually left again. So the study is interesting, but for me, I never felt like it was adequately pulled everything together. Rarely did I feel as if I was reading about one empire. Instead, we were always looking at various pieces of it.

I also would have liked to have had a longer exploration of the comparisons of the British Empire to others around the world—Russia/Soviet, China, Aztec, Rome, Carthage, the list goes on and on. I also would have enjoyed a much more thorough look at the impacts—positive and negative—the empire had on the regions it ruled and the globe. Allitt makes a stab at this, but I would have preferred much more detail. Finally, I would have liked substantially more detail on why the empire was viewed as necessary in Britain and how they held onto it (from a domestic/political perspective) for so long.

Overall, a good course that left me wanting much more on the topic.

One person found this helpful

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Scott Graham

Least Favorite

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2019

The 2 other British history ones are much better.

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