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samuel_braham's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
alexisrt's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting, and I actually liked all the personal connections, but it is a touch rambling and not incredibly well organized. I feel like Sanghera might have done with a better editor to help him shape the material a bit.
sellendavison's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
beffo's review against another edition
4.0
This book made me realise how woefully behind I am on like all of history, but also that where the British Empire is concerned, my ignorance is due to a deep British tradition of hiding and/or forgetting things that don't make our country look good. So now I've started lifting the lid on Pandora's Box, I shall deliberately continue because honestly this raised so many more questions than it answered!
lucyy_bxo's review against another edition
dark
informative
fast-paced
4.5
I found this book really informative and interesting! Given the often heavy themes discussed, Sanghera’s humour was appreciated and provided comic relief. It was fascinating hearing how empire connected with so many different elements of life in Britain, such as Brexit and Covid. I would definitely read/listen to Empireworld too!
newson66's review against another edition
3.0
My biggest problem with the book was the cheap printing - it was difficult to read as the binding was so tight and printed right into the margins. C'mon Penguin I've paid nearly £20 for the book and expect a decent reading experience.
Content - excellent...
Content - excellent...
odyssia's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Some parts I found relatively groundbreaking, while other parts seemed inconsistent or a bit of a stretch, for example, one chapter discusses whether Britain profited from empire and he refuses to give a definitive answer, referring to the complexities of calculating this, then ends the chapter by stating definitively that Britain only finished paying for the compensation to slave owners in 2015 and the source for this is the Mirror.
I liked his ultimate points about encouraging activists to campaign for positive change, such as widening the educational curriculum rather than tearing down statues, which creates enemies and his observation that debate around the British empire has become polarised.
I liked his ultimate points about encouraging activists to campaign for positive change, such as widening the educational curriculum rather than tearing down statues, which creates enemies and his observation that debate around the British empire has become polarised.
aimeesteph's review against another edition
4.0
Really insightful and interesting book about the history and legacy of the British empire. I really enjoyed how facts about the empire intersected with anecdotes from the authors experiences. Focuses on the British reluctance to acknowledge the empire and the impact it is having on British culture today. Really loved the chapter of ‘immigrant’ vs ‘expat’. My only complaint is the line to ‘Visit Bombay street which is named after a British campaign’ ok yes but also visit it to see the remains of how it was entirely burnt out by the British army in the 70s? That’s probably a bigger reminder of the empire there. Really interesting (and slightly scary) seeing the similarity in how British people responded to immigrants from the empire to how they’re responding to immigrants today.