Danger – British empire at work
JVL Introduction
New revelations in the Guardian [Windrush scandal caused by ‘30 years of racist immigration laws’ – report] should surprise no-one.
This story is just another thread in the web of lies and deceit that constitute’s Britain’s imperial legacy, newly dissected by Caroline Elkins.
“In nothing was the British Empire more successful than its skilful concealment of the violence that it unleashed across the globe, over centuries. Caroline Elkins’ Legacy of Violence is a laudably ambitious attempt at unearthing this hidden legacy, the bitter fruits of which are becoming more and more visible every day” – Amitav Ghosh, author of The Nutmeg’s Curse
Here we repost a searing review of Legacy of Violence by Howard W. French.
This article was originally published by the Nation on Mon 16 May 2022. Read the original here.
Worldwide Devastation: the history of the British Empire’s violence
Loading article text…
“In 2005, Britain’s then–Labour chancellor of the exchequer, Gordon Brown, chose the backdrop of Tanzania to make a dramatic statement about his nation’s unmatched record of imperial conquest and rule. “The time is long gone,” he said, “when Britain needs to apologise for its colonial history.”
A chilling reminder of just how dreadful Gordon Brown is.
We should not forget that the British empire killed millions and inspired Hitler.
You really don’t need to reference the Guardian. The Morning Star and others have covered the Windrush scandal without lending any credence or support to what is now essentially one of the principal mouthpieces of imperialism and reaction. Nevertheless, thanks for a great review of what sounds like a great book.
[JVL’s web editor responds: It was right to reference the Guardian in this case. It is Amelia Gentleman’s reporting in the pages of the Guardian that has almost single-handedly exposed the full abominations of the Windrush scandal. Hats off to her for this.]
I have suspected for a long time that Britain “taught” its offspring America. how to behave toward the rest of the world. Britain gave the US the model for aggressive capitalism and the US has exceeded its “parents” expectations.
Words are really superfluous to the above account of British savagery.
Let it not go unremarked that Gordon Brown, who took such pride in such a legacy of racism and barbarism, was most concerned about ‘antisemitism’ in the Labour Party.
This says everything you need to know about the trumped up nature of this confected campaign.
Magnificent book…..equivelant to a full module on British slavery from a brilliant historian. Great review too. What stuck me mostly about books is that the leading apparatchiks of this great violence and oppression inflicted one third of the world, non white of course, is that they were predominantly schooled in Eton / Harrow and Oxford / Cambridge. Would be interesting study to see a study of the curriculums of these establishments to see if there are any clear links to the draining of human empathy. Or is it perhaps the kennelling of children from an early age that leaves them devoid of normal human emotion
Excellent review. Would appreciate italics or quotation marks for the paragraphs from the book about the brutality in Kenya and the apology read out at the Nairobi Hilton. Thanks.
Sean O’Donoghue raises an interesting question in his final sentence. It is something I have pondered on many occasions. We are only ever talking about a proportion or a majority of course.
Strange how many times references are made by JVL to ‘Guardian Sources’ as though this gave some credibility? It may be the flagship of liberalism but which form of liberalism? The Guardian has always been a ‘Liberal’ newspaper & still embraces the Neo-Liberal ideologies of Identity Politics. It has never been a supporter of Socialism & made every effort to attack Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership whenever possible.
It is the ‘acceptable face’ of left-wing politics & its fournalists are often given a platform by the BBC or even Murdoch’s News International. The voice of bourgeois journalism. The British Empire had very little to do with the ordinary British people who were as victimised by slavery as much as any colony. Education was only for the ruling elites as most workers died young & illiterate.
I think it unhelpful to dwell on guilt about our empire, one among others. No-one in my family grew rich from unequal situations. Those with inherited wealth gained through unfair dealings might think about reparation. However, I am apalled by the hypocrisy of Britain slagging off Russia for getting into a situation so like many British military interventions or ventures. And the Guardian has a record of hypocrisy and shocking bias.
I was given Elkins book on Kenya last Xmas . It is a terrible account of British cruelty and racism. I shall buy the new book . The woman is a great journalist and writer and I look forward to being educated still further about my countries bloody history. When I was eleven I passed the exam to go to grammar school. My father who had served in the Far East during WW2 said to me that if my history teachers tell you the British Empire was civilising mission I must take what they said with skepticism. His experience during his time in Burma, India and Malaya taught him the native people hated the British rulers. They couldn’t wait he said to have rid of us. The idea that those colonial people loved the British and the King over the water was nothing but a lie. I had forgotten Browns statement. It reinforces my belief that the Right wing of the Labour Party are opposed to any real change for the good of ordinary folk.
I’d like to take up John Bowley’s point that it is unhelpful to expose the crimes of ‘our’ British empire — because this has so many parallels with the response to our position as Jews exposing the colonial crimes of Israel.. in each case, sometimes amounting to a slow-motion genocide. The point is that these crimes have been committed IN OUR NAME, therefore it is up to us to make sure that they are neither concealed nor forgotten.
I said that I think it unhelpful to dwell on guilt about our empire, from which nobody in my family gained. Guilt and offers of reparation are matters for the rich families living on wealth gained from the past inequalities. There are stacks of bad things and crummy false assumptions being put about now in the name of my country or in the name of what I had thought was my Labour Party, over which I have no control. They are not actually being done in my name. I reject guilt by association. State ordered crimes being done in Israel are not really being committed in the name of or for the benefit of Jewish people living anywhere else.