British Empire
Total 14 Posts
Lessons from Commonwealth history as the UK finds its place in a post-Brexit world.
5 min read
The Commonwealth’s ‘golden age’ wasn’t entirely dazzling.
This week, Britain has a deadline to give up its last African colony.
2 min read
A country which prides itself on respect for the rule of law, the UK is urged to end its governance of Chagos Islands “as rapidly as possible”.
Ladybird Libertarians: Dan Hannan, Paddington and the pernicious impact of 1970s children’s literature on Brexit thinking.
7 min read
How 1970s kids books formed the intellectual basis for Brexit. In essence “Ladybird books” were a kind of propaganda but we never noticed — and a lot of people still haven’t. (Warning: “May contain Dan Hannans.”)
How Boris Johnson draws on the past to rule in the present – with a little help from myth.
5 min read
The stories we tell about our histories can have a powerful impact on current events – and research shows how.
Peterloo massacre — How women’s bravery helped change British politics forever.
4 min read
As well as an attack on the working classes, Peterloo was also an episode of violence against women.
Brexit’s ‘Global Britain’: UK needs a clear economic strategy for its trading future, not a dead colonial fantasy.
5 min read
The notion of ‘Empire 2.0’ embraced by Brexiters is backward-facing nonsense.
How the end of Britain’s empire led to rising inequality that helped Leave to victory.
17 min read
The link between empire, inequality – and Brexit.