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Review
| British Imperialism, by Robert Johnson. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. 284 pages. $22.50, paper.
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| Can a volume of 219 pages of text describe the entirety of the British Empire? Obviously it cannot, although this volume does provide a number of useful accomplishments. As the first volume of the Histories and Controversies series of Palgrave Press, the book establishes a firm benchmark for future volumes. The history of the British Empire for years has elicited controversial and conflicted interpretations, and the author's intention here is to explain and analyze many of them, especially those of the recent several decades. At this time in our world, during which examples of "empire" and "colonialization" seem to be increasing, such a book becomes especially topical and germane. Rather than following a chronological narrative, Johnson divides his work into topical chapters concerned with selected places in the empire such as India, Canada, and South Africa, and into additional chapters covering empire themes such as racism, gender, economics, and decolonization. The "watershed" of the empire, according to Johnson, was the "Great War" of 1914-18. The empire did expand to its fullest extent after that war, becoming the greatest empire in the history of the world; but the war resulted in rising nationalism in many parts of the empire causing large numbers of imperial subjects to reexamine their position in relation to Britain. Johnson's concluding chapters aptly describe the process of decolonization. A minor, though inevitable, irritation caused by using the topical approach is the need often to mention concepts or themes, such as Robinson and Gallagher's "imperialism of free trade," in various chapters throughout the book leading to a repetition of citations in the chapter endnotes. In addition, a few more maps of the specific locations indicated in the individual chapters (other than just India and Africa) would be useful to a careful reader of the text. |
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Johnson does a fine job, nonetheless, of condensing many of the intricate details of numerous closely argued books into clear prose which, free of jargon itself, is critical of the jargon in the theories he discusses. Although the book is stated to be "an essential starting point for all those new to the subject and a helpful introduction," it can more accurately be described as a good discussion of imperial themes, theses, and literature, pitched at the level of upper level undergraduates and graduate students. The complexities of "gentlemanly capitalism," "orientalism," and post-colonialism can be thorny topics for even experienced students, certainly not an "easy read" for the beginner. For more advanced students, however, the work is an admirable collation of authors, their theories, and their critics. In addition to the text and its very complete set of endnotes (relying heavily on the contributors to the Oxford History of the British Empire), Johnson provides a useful chronology of the empire from 1497 to the 1997 return of Hong Kong to China. Even more useful for a book of this size is a twenty page bibliography topically divided and representing some of the best classical literature of the field and some of the newest. Since his last chapter discusses the cultural legacy of the empire, I am a bit sorry that Johnson was not able to utilize Niall Ferguson's 2002 work Empire: the Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power, because the British Empire provides logical lessons for today's single global power and its current forays into imperialism. Also, David Cannadine's 2001 work Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire would have been instructive if injected into Johnson's discussion of orientalism. |
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These are minor quibbles, however, meant in no way to diminish my admiration for a work of such brevity, yet which tackles so many raging debates. One could do far worse, for example, if one wished to find a convenient analysis of the rise and demise of the deconstructionist-post colonialist attacks on the traditional conceptions of the British Empire and its perceived Eurocentric lack of historical validity. Johnson takes the reasonable stance that such attacks ought to reorient themselves, for example, to study the effect of empire on race and national consciousness. Otherwise, says Johnson, the attackers will find themselves limited by their "own self-referring vocabulary and endless reexamination of language and texts." Jemy Black, editor of the Histories and Controversies series is to be congratulated on his selection of Robert Johnson to undertake the opening offering. For a series which promises to introduce "key questions and debates surrounding major historical themes and events," Johnson has admirably filled the bill. The topic of British imperialism has been one of heated debate for the duration of the empire, but its discussion has never before been more relevant for the world, and especially an American audience. |
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| Houston, Texas |
Newell D. Boyd |
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