Empireland

  • Author Sathnam Sanghera
  • Narrator Homer Todiwala
  • Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
  • Run Time 10 hours and 17 minutes
  • Format Audio
  • Genre Colonialism and imperialism.
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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

An Apple Best Audiobook of 2021

LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2021
A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

'This remarkable book shines the brightest of lights into some of the darkest and most misunderstood corners of our shared history' James O'Brien
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In his brilliantly illuminating new book Sathnam Sanghera demonstrates how so much of what we consider to be modern Britain is actually rooted in our imperial past. In prose that is, at once, both clear-eyed and full of acerbic wit, Sanghera shows how our past is everywhere: from how we live to how we think, from the foundation of the NHS to the nature of our racism, from our distrust of intellectuals in public life to the exceptionalism that imbued the campaign for Brexit and the government's early response to the Covid crisis. And yet empire is a subject, weirdly hidden from view.

The British Empire ran for centuries and covered vast swathes of the world. It is, as Sanghera reveals, fundamental to understanding Britain. However, even among those who celebrate the empire there seems to be a desire not to look at it too closely - not to include the subject in our school history books, not to emphasize it too much in our favourite museums.

At a time of great division, when we are arguing about what it means to be British, Sanghera's book urges us to address this bewildering contradiction. For, it is only by stepping back and seeing where we really come from, that we can begin to understand who we are, and what unites us.
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'Lucid but never simplistic; entertaining but never frivolous; intensely readable while always mindful of nuance and complexity - Empireland takes a perfectly-judged approach to its contentious but necessary subject' Jonathan Coe

© Sathnam Sanghera 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Critics Review

  • I only wish this book had been around when I was at school

    Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London
  • A fascinating reckoning with a history of empire

    Guardian, Best Politics Books of 2021
  • A balanced and insightful study of the British empire and contemporary attitudes towards it

    The Times, Best Paperbacks of 2021
  • This immensely readable book is very timely. The account by Sanghera, a former FT writer, is simultaneously personal and scholarly. It addresses many of the questions that are now urgent subjects of public debate – such as Britain’s role in the slave trade and the connections between empire and multiculturalism

    Financial Times, Best Books of 2021: Politics
  • An important book and that’s not a phrase to use lightly. It’s an exposé and a reminder of how conveniently the British have rewritten the past and buried the bones of their shame . . . a necessary, uncomfortable and illuminating read

    New Statesman, Books of the Year
  • Robust . . . an illuminating examination of the “toxic cocktail of nostalgia and amnesia” that still hugely influences our life today

    Guardian, Best Books of 2021

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