The Bloody History of British Colonisation
For centuries, a small island nation cast a shadow across the world. The British Empire's methods of expansion were often brutal, usually devastating. From Amritsar to Zululand, from the Opium Wars in China to the deliberate infection of Native Americans with smallpox and the cold-blooded treatment of the starving during the Irish Famine, Des Ekin lays bare the atrocities committed in the name of colonisation.
With many nations worldwide still grappling with the legacy of British rule, Ekin explores the justifications used to dehumanise other people and rationalise their abuse, exploitation and slaughter. In this rigorously researched and eminently readable book, Des Ekin lifts the veil on the harrowing realities of colonial rule.
By:
Des Ekin
Imprint: O'Brien Press Ltd
Country of Publication: Ireland
Dimensions:
Height: 220mm,
Width: 150mm,
Spine: 25mm
Weight: 440g
ISBN: 9781788493697
ISBN 10: 1788493699
Pages: 416
Publication Date: 14 October 2024
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
First … A Micro-History of the British Empire Amritsar – The Massacre that Shocked the World Biological Warfare Concentration Camps Drug Dealing for Queen and Country Eugenics, Elitism and English Exceptionalism – A Glimpse Into the Mindset of Empire Famine in Ireland The G-Word: Genocide or Not? Hunting for Human Beings Ireland: The Test Lab of Empire Jamaica and the Saturnalia of Slaughter Kleptomania Lashman – The Extraordinary John Nicholson ‘McEmpire’: – The East India Company The New World Omdurman and the Slaughter of the Wounded Partition of India and the End of British Rule Queensland: The Dark History Behind the Sunshine State Revolt in India, 1857 – The So-called ‘Indian Mutiny’ Slavery ‘Terror Beyond the Grave’ – The Peculiar Policy of Postmortem Punishment The ‘Unknown Continent’ and the Unbeatable Weapon Van Diemen’s Land ‘The White Man’s Fury’ – The Waikato Atrocities in New Zealand The Xhosa Wars Younghusband’s Yaks, and the Invasion of Tibet Zulus Source Notes
Des Ekin is a retired journalist and the author of four books. Born in County Down, Northern Ireland, he began his career as a reporter. After spending several years covering the Ulster Troubles, he rose to become Deputy Editor of the Belfast Sunday News before moving to his current home in Dublin. He worked as a journalist, columnist, Assistant Editor and finally Political Correspondent for The Sunday World until 2012. His book The Stolen Village (2006) was shortlisted for the Argosy Irish Nonfiction Book of the Year and for Book of the Decade in the Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards 2010. He is married with a son and two daughters.
Reviews for The Brutish Empire: Four Centuries of Colonial Atrocities
Ekin is a fine journalist and stylist, who writes with a brio and enthusiasm that is infectious. The research is impeccable and the chapter-by-chapter bibliographies are exhaustive. This is a harrowing and rip-roaring read -- Irish Independent this is not a pleasant book, but it is an important one. If we do not recognise the errors of the past we will repeat them. On a less noble note, it is a useful weapon to counter any lingering notions of British superiority -- Tuam Herald
