This is a story of wealth and power and glory. It is also the story of misery and exploitation and plunder. Britain, a tiny island nation, came to rule an empire that encompassed 24% of the world's land mass and 23% of the world's population. How and why are the questions we will seek to answer in this SDG.
Historian Piers Brendon guides us through the life of Britannia, from the loss of the North American colonies to the loss of Hong Kong. His telling is one of people, places and events We will see that the Empire would have been impossible without the cooperation of local individuals. We will meet them in the course of this SDG, along with local armies who fought for Britain and independence fighters who eventually tore the empire apart.
We will visit the jungles of Africa and Asia, the wilderness of New Zealand and the great cities of London, Dublin, Jerusalem, Cairo, Delhi, Rangoon, Singapore and Hong Kong as we get to know the politicians, proconsuls, officials, soldiers, traders, writers, explorers, adventurers, entrepreneurs, prospectors, and missionaries who wanted to rule the world. The impetus for empire was varied: some tried sincerely to bring progress and improvement, others came for trade and commerce, others for adventure – but almost all brought attitudes of greed and a belief in their own superiority.
Britain changed the map of the world and the lives of millions of people. We will look at the legacy of empires, both the good and the bad. It is said that the "sun never set on the British Empire" but we will learn discover that the seeds of its destruction had been sown early and by the late twentieth century, the British Empire was gone.
Join us to find out just how and why the sun did, indeed, set.
