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9781350156883

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Michelle Gordon's history of violence in the British Empire is an important corrective to a traditional historiography which regards such violence as the exception rather than the rule. Gordon demonstrates instead, using the insights of genocide studies, that extreme violence was essential to the establishment and maintenance of control in the British empire. That violence was often knowingly outside of the legal conventions of warfare and included the targeting of potential resistance before the event, collective reprisals including scorched earth policies and the destruction of civilian communities. Ultimately Michelle Gordon requires us to write violence back into the history of the British Empire, which often held the potential for genocide. * Tom Lawson, Professor of History, Northumbria University, UK * Starting with questions that come from genocide studies and applying them to the much-neglected problem of violence and atrocity in the British Empire, Michelle Gordon has written a powerful work of historical inquiry. Extreme Violence and the 'British Way' will generate much debate and lead to further research into an issue that remains highly relevant for today's world. * Dan Stone, Professor of History, Royal Holloway, UK *

Michelle Gordon's history of violence in the British Empire is an important corrective to a traditional historiography which regards such violence as the exception rather than the rule. Gordon demonstrates instead, using the insights of genocide studies, that extreme violence was essential to the establishment and maintenance of control in the British empire. That violence was often knowingly outside of the legal conventions of warfare and included the targeting of potential resistance before the event, collective reprisals including scorched earth policies and the destruction of civilian communities. Ultimately Michelle Gordon requires us to write violence back into the history of the British Empire, which often held the potential for genocide. * Tom Lawson, Professor of History, Northumbria University, UK * 'This is a well-researched manuscript on an important topic. It has potential to make a strong contribution to our understanding of the role of violence in spreading and maintaining British power overseas.' * Mark Doyle, Professor of History, Middle Tennessee State University, USA * 'A compelling and well-written analysis of colonial violence across three deeply-researched case studies I would strongly recommend this book for publication. The author has done an excellent job of situating three distinct episodes of colonial violence into the wider historiography, and spends considerable time on the question of 'colonial genocide' as an analytical category - with revealing and original results. The MS is written to a very high standard with fluidity and depth in equal measure. An impressive piece of original work which will make a significant empirical and methodological/theoretical contribution to an important and burgeoning field.' * Emily Manktelow, Senior Lecturer of Imperial and Global History, Royal Holloway, UK [Also series editor of Empire's Other Histories] * 'Michelle Gordon's work is a highly original contribution to several crucial fields. With a theoretical starting point that derives from debates in genocide studies, Dr Gordon skilfully navigates a path between theoretical argument and empirical history, with compelling and startling findings from national and local, regimental archives brought to bear on her initial question concerning the nature of the violence in the British Empire.' * Dan Stone, Professor of History, Royal Holloway, UK *

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Michelle Gordon is a researcher at the Hugo Valentin Centre, Uppsala University, Sweden.

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