Empire : how Britain made the modern world

At its peak, the British Empire was the biggest empire in history.

It governed a quarter of the world's land and dominated all its seas.

It laid the foundation for the global triumph of capitalism; gave the world its common language, English, and exported both Protestantism and parliaments.

How did Britain manage to achieve all this? This is the crucial question addressed by Niall Ferguson.

He shows how the British wrested power from their rivals by imitation and intimidation, and demonstrates how mass migration from Britain turned the American and Australian continents white, while the missionary movement sought to enlighten the 'dark' continents of Africa and Asia.

Empire explains how the British Empire rose - and why it finally fell.