Niall Ferguson's bestselling Empire" is the compelling story of how the British empire rose to power
- & why it finally fell. Once vast swathes of the globe were coloured imperial red & Britannia ruled not just the waves but the prairies of America the plains of Asia the jungles of Africa & the deserts of Arabia. Just how did a small rainy island in the North Atlantic achieve all this? & why did the empire on which the sun literally never set finally decline & fall? Niall Ferguson's acclaimed " Empire" brilliantly unfolds the imperial story in all its splendours & its miseries showing how a gang of buccaneers & gold-diggers planted the seed of the biggest empire in all history
- & set the world on the road to modernity. " The most brilliant British historian of his generation... Ferguson examines the roles of "pirates planters missionaries mandarins bankers & bankrupts" in the creation of history's largest empire.. .he writes with splendid panache.. .and a seemingly effortless debonair wit". (Andrew Roberts). " Dazzling.. .wonderfully readable". (" New York Review of Books"). "A remarkably readable precis of the whole British imperial story
- triumphs deceits decencies kindnesses cruelties & all". (Jan Morris). "" Empire" is a pleasure to read & brims with insights & intelligence". (" Sunday Times"). Niall Ferguson is one of Britain's most renowned historians. He is Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University a Senior Research Fellow of Jesus College Oxford & a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution Stanford University. He is the bestselling author of " Civilization" " The House of Rothschild" " The Cash Nexus" " The Pity of War" " Colossus" " The War of the World" & " The Ascent of Money"."