HISTORIES OF IMPERIALISM, especially the European imperialism of the 19th and 20th centuries, were long dominated by purportedly neutral accounts that sanitized the often bloody practice. More recently there has been a resurgence of apologias for empires in general and the British empire especially, from such writers as Niall Ferguson, Ian Morris, and several of the neoconservative intellectuals who enjoyed a moment in the sun during George W. Bush’s presidency.
Their work is not of interest only to historians. These books explicitly address contemporary politics. Empire, they suggest, is the most practical and effective way of organizing political life on a geographically large scale and of bringing progress to places that otherwise would be stuck in tribalism and barbarism. The British Empire in particular is presented as essential
