Colonial Empires and Armies 1815-1960

The empire builders of the 19th and 20th centuries conquered in thename of 'civilisation', and of bringing modernity and stability to thebenighted peoples of Africa, Asia, and the Pacific.

In reality, these empireswere built through force and naked terror, and left behind bitter legacieswhich continue to plague the descendents of both colonisers and the colonised. In this now classic study, Victor Kiernan provides an overarching account ofthe many conflicts which shaped Europe's empires.

Beginning in 1815 with theaftermath of the Napoleonic wars, Kiernan's wide-ranging book stretches fromthe Indian mutiny and the scramble for Africa to the World Wars and thestruggles of the post-war era. Fascinating sketches of colonial life are interwoven with an incisiveanalysis of the ideology of imperialism and its 'civilising mission', as wellas a riveting account of how changes in the balance of power allowedanti-colonial liberation movements to seize the initiative in the wake of theSecond World War.

Colonial Empires and Armies remains anindispensable study of how these imperial conflicts continue to shape ourworld.