“The Rise and Fall of the British Empire”, by Lawrence James

 

720 pages, St. Martin’s Press, ISBN-13: 978-0312140397

 

Lawrence James makes a straight factual narrative of the empire, neither going the neoimperialist apologist route nor the leftist postmodernist road, emphasizing both its achievements and its darker moments. He does have an interesting style in introducing some of the chapters by describing certain paintings, poems, popular songs and novels of the time to that symbolized Britain at that point in time. James both writes well and covers all the essentials – the big players, issues, and events – in a logical manner. He provides a good balance of historical fact, analysis, and opinion that gives the reader the ability to appreciate the creation and growth of the Empire as well as is decline and both the human suffering and opportunities related to the Empire.

 

It is amazing to see how much history James packs into this one book, going all the way back to 1605. I most appreciated the work for how well James’ covers the 20^th Century, especially WWII and post-WWII history; where most such histories spend too much time on the “rise” of the empire, James makes sure to cover its stagnation and decline, as well. American readers come away getting an excellent understanding of how WWI and WWII led to the financial problems that plagued Britain and made it so difficult to maintain an empire when the average Brit was having so much trouble at home. James opens our eyes to the paradox of the UK as a nuclear-armed world power, with military bases and power all around the world, but one experiencing serious post-WWII hardship (e.g., rationing, currency and import controls, the fall of the sterling zone, and the export or die necessity) that plagued the average Englishman. James covers the Suez debacle of 1956 extremely well as well as the Malaysian Emergency and the uprising in Kenya (his discussion of the Irish issue, home rule vs. independence vs. partition, is equally outstanding). Any American reading this will appreciate that while the Empire was in serious trouble after WWI and was undermined by WWII, the Empire didn't “end” with Indian independence in 1947; there was still a lot of life left in her and James brings those people, events and issues to life.

 

His discussion about the interaction of the UK’s military and political activities during WWII vis-a-vis the Dominions, esp. Australia, is most eye-opening for Americans. James does a great service showing how Britain interacted with the Dominions at a time of peril for the UK (1940-1942) that led to extreme danger for Australia (1942) and choices for Canada. We also understand how Australia and New Zealand are forced into America’s arms and the how and why the Dominions did what they did to save Empire and themselves. He then helps Americans understand how the dollar replaced the pound as the world’s reserve currency and why Britain and the Empire come to rely on American Lend Lease during WWII and the problems that arise due to the end of such financial help and America’s attempts at free trade and convertible currencies, at a time when the UK’s economy was almost 100% war-related and would take years and massive amounts of precious capital to convert back to peacetime (interrupted by the Korean War).

 

As with so many history books, this would’ve benefitted from more and better maps; I marvel at how an author can write so well about so much but then the publisher fails to include the sorts of ready helps that improve such a large work. Why no relevant lists of the names and dates of the sovereigns (kings/queens) as well as prime ministers and their political parties (for at least the UK, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and Canada)? How hard would it have been to create a chart or list showing the dates of the acquisition of each colony, dependency, or protectorate? Or when dominion or independence was granted? I kept wishing for a timeline chronology showing what was going on politically and culturally across the empire over the years. And given Churchill’s importance on so many issues for so long, why not a biographical chart showing the dates of all the various positions he held in various governments? But these failings do not undermine how readable and informative this great book is and how useful it will be in anyone's library as a reference work, both for what was written and its notes/bibliography.

 

 





“La Belle France: A Short History”, by Alistair Horne

512 pages, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., ISBN-13: 978-1400041404

For anyone seeking a model of how a good historical narrative should be done, go no farther than Horne’s La Belle France: A Short History: THIS is how it’s done: humorous, informative, an agreeable pace without burdening the reader with a nuisance ideological overflow. The breadth of knowledge and use of quality sources is impressive, but the highlight is the subtle and sometimes not so subtle one and two line zingers. It is clear that Horne has had a lifelong love affair with France; throughout the book, he interjects personal experiences from having traveled and lived in France. His approach to the topic should appeal both to the novice student and the advanced Francophile. He provides an especially lucid chronological overview of the major periods of French history and civilization, alluding to significant books and authors in the unparalleled contributions in French literature.

Horne’s tracing of the reigns of the French monarchs is impressive: not only do readers gain insight into the contributions and personal lives of the kings and queens, but the enormous suffering of the peasants under the yoke of the Ancien Régime is thoughtfully considered by the author. Clearly, Horne’s eye is always on the big picture of the development of France through the centuries. I especially admired the personal commentary and humor interjected by Horne throughout the book; for instance, in his description of Louis XIV, the author references a contemporary satirical “prayer” that was highly critical of the Sun King: “Our Father who art in Versailles, thy name is no longer hallowed; thy kingdom is diminished; thy will is no longer done on earth or on the waves” (p. 168). Following the nearly endless reign of Louis XIV, Horne argues convincingly that Versailles became a melancholy place. He then analyzes the lackluster regimes of Louis XV and Louis XVI leading to the French Revolution.

Another strong section of the book is the chapter on the 19^th Century. With a long string of revolutions, constantly changing political regimes, and stunning artistic movements, Horne’s analysis is a model of compression and economy. He provides especially effective analysis of the Dreyfus affair.

A weakness of the book is a surprising carelessness with facts. One major lapse came when Horne hopelessly confused a state visit to Paris by the son of King George V of England with the son of Queen Victoria, identified inaccurately by Horne as “the future Edward VII” (p. 306). He should have said that the Prince of Wales, son of George V and the future Edward VIII, visited Paris in 1912. Another gaffe was Horne’s criticism of French authors for advancing their careers with lucrative book publications during the French Occupation of the 1940s. Horne should have realized that many of these authors were writing subversive, allegorical works that were part of the Resistance movement. Even the examples cited by Horne (Jean-Paul Sartre’s Les Mouches and Huis Clos) were plays that captured the claustrophobic climate of the era.

Still, the strengths far outweigh the weaknesses in this lively history of France. Above all, Horne has a knack for writing engaging biographical profiles with unforgettable short portraits of Henri IV, Napoleon, Charles de Gaulle, and François Mitterrand, among others. With Horne’s insights, based on a lifetime of study, the book pays great rewards for those who share his passion for La Belle France (FYI, a very basic understanding of French would be helpful when reading La Belle France, being that some basic phrases are not translated. I thought this untranslated statement from a woman harassed for dating a German during the occupation was both sad and quite funny: Mon cul est international, mais mon coeur es toujour français!)

“Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947”, by Christopher Clark

800 pages, Belknap Press, ISBN-13: 978-0674023857

Christopher Clark begins his survey of Prussian history with the death of his protagonist – the State of Prussia – at the hands of the Allied powers after WW II; he then proceeds to develop the reasons for that destruction. In doing so, he follows Prussia’s growth from its sandy Brandenburg heartland to a continental power and threat to world peace. The story of this rise and fall has value for students of strategy and national security, as well as armchair historians interested in modern Europe.

Strategists will recognize many facets of their discipline throughout this well-documented book. The Hohenzollerns, originally the Burgraves of Nuremberg, purchased Brandenburg in 1417 for prestige, with Burgrave Frederick paid a king’s ransom in gold to become one of only seven electors of the Holy Roman Emperor. As electors, the Hohenzollern were influential among the 300-odd sovereigns owing fealty – if not always paying loyalty – to the Habsburg emperor in Vienna. The position (and Hohenzollern ambition) eventually led Prussia to contend with Vienna for leadership of the German nation. Success came in 1871 and meant the elimination of Prussia as an independent state. Along the way, Prussian rulers developed the tools of state necessary to match their ambition: The Great Elector played the game of diplomacy well, protecting his non-contiguous realm from encroachment by the great powers while strengthening it economically with Protestant immigrants; Frederick William II, the Soldier King, built a formidable army and a bureaucratic and economic structure to support it; his son, Frederick the Great, used that army to boost Prussia into the ranks of great powers.

The student of national security will learn how Frederick’s successors squandered his gains. They allowed the army and its supporting structures to ossify, while poor diplomacy and failure to ally with Austria and Russian against Napoleon led to defeat and occupation. Timid King Fredrick William III recognized that he could retake his kingdom only after massive reforms; fortunately, he was blessed with a remarkable generation of administrative and military reformers. Professor Clark recounts the struggles of Hardenberg, Stein, Gneisenau and others in rebuilding the Prussian state. Their reforms ranged from education to agriculture to the bureaucracy, economics and citizenship. These efforts yielded a reconstituted Prussian army of citizen-soldiers – and an allied victory at Waterloo.

The armchair historian will find more than the machinations of kings and generals in their quest for power. Clark sets each epoch into cultural context. The polygot Prussian subject is here: the French Huguenot; the east Elbian peasant; the independent-thinking Rhinelander. Great movers and shakers are here as well: in addition to the Napoleonic-era reformers are the Bismarcks, Hegels and Fontanes. Above all, Clark gives us the land and its people – the true underpinning of an agrarian society developing into a modern industrial power.

Clark’s final chapters chronicle the cooption of the Prussian identity, already subsumed by the German Reich in 1871, into a backdrop for Nazi propaganda. The end result is a Prussia, stripped of its identity, destroyed by war and occupied by the unsympathetic Allies. It ceased to exist as a political entity by Allied decree in 1947. All that remained were gutted buildings, buried monuments and Brandenburg, soon to be a province in the Soviet Union's East German satellite.

“Alistair Cooke’s America” by Alistair Cooke

400 pages, Basic Books, ISBN-13: 978-0786710362

There are some books that are just so informative that no library should be without them; some books that are so well written that it is a positive joy to read the text; and there are some people who have such a way of looking at the world that you feel comforted just by hearing them speak. This, then, is Alistair Cooke and his book, Alistair Cooke’s America, in a nutshell.

No stiff upper lip Brit here; not at all. As a transplanted British journalist, Alistair Cooke studied in America’s Ivy League universities and then returned to America as a BBC correspondent, and the experience seems to have so deeply affected and impressed him that he stayed on and became a citizen. Alistair Cooke captured the spirit of the United States simply and eloquently in his writings as he sought to expose the heart and feeling of the people that drove this great country towards ever-higher aspirations of the human experience. Cooke’s masterpiece is a classical telling of a story of grandeur without fawning, of warts without lambasting. It is a grand overview rather than a list of presidents, wars and laws. He captures the essence of what is important, as if he wished to give a concise guide to his compatriots in England of what fascinates him about this land that he eventually settled as did many in his story. It captures what America and Americans do very well and would be an excellent guide to any person who wants to understand us. With so many Americans ignorant of their own history it would be an even better guide to today’s colleges or high schools to make them understand the land of their birth and how it came to be what it is.

This book is over 40 years old as I write this (July 15^th, 2014) and at the time that he wrote this Cooke was in his 27^th year of his Letter from America Broadcast for the BBC. When you finish this book you will find yourself wanting more. Sadly, Mr. Cooke is no longer with us, but his words still are.