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9781911723097

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'This is a fine collection, authored by respected experts in the fields of imperial and colonial history. These essays are detailed and remarkably restrained assessments of the troubling and dubious manner in which the right-wing polemicists of the culture wars have distorted the historical record in service of the political rehabilitation of colonialism.' -- Michael Taylor, author of 'The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery' 'Lester has assembled an A Team of--can we say this now?--experts. The result is an incredibly readable collection that is nuanced, complex, calm and seriously informed--just what we need now on this vital and important subject.' -- Matthew Parker, author of 'One Fine Day: Britain's Empire on the Brink'

‘Systematically reveals the questionable foundations of apologies for British colonialism. …A masterclass in historical scholarship.’ -- <b><i>Australian Book Review</b></i> ‘Provides a kind of index of approaches experts can take when their subject is made the ground of culture war discourse-mongering. …Stuart Ward’s chapter is a brilliant historicisation of the genre of post-imperial apologetics.’ -- <b><i>Red Pepper Magazine</b></i> 'We can welcome The Truth about Empire as a major contribution to current debates over British imperial history.'  -- <b><I>Inside Story</I></b> 'An essential contribution to scholarship on the British Empire. This is an important book for our times.' -- <b>Kavita Puri, author of <I>Partition Voices: Untold British Stories</I></b> 'In a time of harmful, government-backed myth-making about the past, ""The Truth About Empire"" offers important assurance of the value of and need for scholarly expertise and dialogue. Expert historians patiently, and devastatingly, prove the scholarly malpractice behind recent ideologically motivated attempts to whitewash the past. A lesson in the follies of peddling and trusting bogus history.' -- <b>Priya Satia, author of <I>Time's Monster: How History Makes History</I></b> 'A fine collection of detailed and remarkably restrained assessments of the troubling and dubious manner in which the right-wing polemicists of the culture wars have distorted the historical record in service of the political rehabilitation of colonialism.' -- <b>Michael Taylor, author of <I>The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery</I></b> 'Lester has assembled an A Team of--can we say this now?--experts. The result is an incredibly readable collection that is nuanced, complex, calm and seriously informed--just what we need now on this vital and important subject.' -- <b>Matthew Parker, author of <I>One Fine Day: Britain's Empire on the Brink</I></b>

"‘Systematically reveals the questionable foundations of apologies for British colonialism. …A masterclass in historical scholarship.’ -- <b><i>Australian Book Review</b></i> 'An essential contribution to scholarship on the British Empire. This is an important book for our times.' -- <b>Kavita Puri, author of <I>Partition Voices: Untold British Stories</I></b> 'In a time of harmful, government-backed myth-making about the past, ""The Truth About Empire"" offers important assurance of the value of and need for scholarly expertise and dialogue. Expert historians patiently, and devastatingly, prove the scholarly malpractice behind recent ideologically motivated attempts to whitewash the past. A lesson in the follies of peddling and trusting bogus history.' -- <b>Priya Satia, author of <I>Time's Monster: How History Makes History</I></b> 'A fine collection of detailed and remarkably restrained assessments of the troubling and dubious manner in which the right-wing polemicists of the culture wars have distorted the historical record in service of the political rehabilitation of colonialism.' -- <b>Michael Taylor, author of <I>The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery</I></b> 'Lester has assembled an A Team of--can we say this now?--experts. The result is an incredibly readable collection that is nuanced, complex, calm and seriously informed--just what we need now on this vital and important subject.' -- <b>Matthew Parker, author of <I>One Fine Day: Britain's Empire on the Brink</I></b>"

Author Information

Alan Lester is Professor of Historical Geography at the University of Sussex and Adjunct Professor of History at La Trobe University. He has written eleven books on British colonialism, most recently Ruling the World: Freedom, Civilisation and Liberalism in the Nineteenth Century British Empire; and Deny and Disavow: The British Empire in the Culture War (co-authored; 2nd edition).

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