Scan barcode
mmillerb's review against another edition
5.0
a resounding reversal! great insights, great info in here. read a little self-indulgently as a crash course (well, perhaps a little bit longer than that) in avenues for solidarity and allyship with radical movements against empire
girljames's review against another edition
4.0
DNF at 51%. It's an excellent work of scholarship, but a little too granular for what I need and certainly for the pile of mush my brain is these days.
vampirefwoodstock's review against another edition
5.0
An important book, but a challenging read for non-historians. If only this was the stuff that was taught in schools, instead of Henry VIII's wives etc...
rachmloh's review against another edition
4.0
This took me half a month to read but it was worth it. A great education (but not all of it) on anti colonial resistance and Britain’s complicity in maintaining white supremacy as well as how the people in past colonial nations were major drivers of taking back their countries while laying the foundation to the resistance we see today. A little dry and made me nod off a couple of times per day while I read this book but a necessary read for everyone.
mayabee92's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
fayabernethybooks's review against another edition
4.0
The history we were never taught at school
Reading this book took me months. The writing is dry and academic and the typeface is tiny: making it a physical challenge as well as a mental one. But there was never any question of giving up halfway through.
Every page held information which was new to me – revelations my school history lessons never taught me about. A pattern repeated in every corner of the former British Empire and which is absolutely relevant in today’s world. A tale of violent suppression by a government desperate to cling on to power.
Time and again throughout history, freedoms and rights were never ‘awarded’ by the incumbent elites. They had to be wrested from them, through decades of persistent struggle: by incredibly brave individuals building a movement which eventually became unstoppable.
To me, this book shows it is impossible to fundamentally change an unjust society without some form of disruption. But also that - when enough people put their minds to it - change is inevitable. We can all draw hope from that.
Reading this book took me months. The writing is dry and academic and the typeface is tiny: making it a physical challenge as well as a mental one. But there was never any question of giving up halfway through.
Every page held information which was new to me – revelations my school history lessons never taught me about. A pattern repeated in every corner of the former British Empire and which is absolutely relevant in today’s world. A tale of violent suppression by a government desperate to cling on to power.
Time and again throughout history, freedoms and rights were never ‘awarded’ by the incumbent elites. They had to be wrested from them, through decades of persistent struggle: by incredibly brave individuals building a movement which eventually became unstoppable.
To me, this book shows it is impossible to fundamentally change an unjust society without some form of disruption. But also that - when enough people put their minds to it - change is inevitable. We can all draw hope from that.