Empire
How Britain Made the Modern World
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Empire
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Narrated by:
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Niall Ferguson
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By:
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Niall Ferguson
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
Once vast swathes of the globe were coloured imperial red and Britannia ruled not just the waves, but the prairies of America, the plains of Asia, the jungles of Africa and the deserts of Arabia. Just how did a small, rainy island in the North Atlantic achieve all this? And why did the empire on which the sun literally never set finally decline and fall? Niall Ferguson's acclaimed Empire brilliantly unfolds the imperial story in all its splendours and its miseries, showing how a gang of buccaneers and gold-diggers planted the seed of the biggest empire in all history - and set the world on the road to modernity.
©2004 Patrick Hennessey (P)2004 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Civilization
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- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,349
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,007
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,989
The rise to global predominance of Western civilization is the single most important historical phenomenon of the past five hundred years. All over the world, an astonishing proportion of people now work for Western-style companies, study at Western-style universities, vote for Western-style governments, take Western medicines, wear Western clothes, and even work Western hours. Yet six hundred years ago the petty kingdoms of Western Europe seemed unlikely to achieve much more than perpetual internecine warfare. It was Ming China or Ottoman Turkey that had the look of world civilizations.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Thoughtful analysis of the ascendancy of the West.
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The Ascent of Money
- A Financial History of the World
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,369
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Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance. Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot, lucre, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: Call it what you like, it matters. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor. Niall Ferguson shows that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress.
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4 out of 5 stars
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The Great Degeneration
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- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 310
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 263
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 262
Best-selling author and world-renowned historian Niall Ferguson has won widespread acclaim for thought-provoking works such as Civilization and High Financier. The Great Degeneration tackles nothing less than the decline of Western civilization. Ferguson posits that slowing growth, outrageous debt, and antisocial behavior are contributing to the erosion of the West’s once rock-solid foundations. Ferguson excavates the causes and shows how heroic leadership and radical reform are needed to right the course.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Superb as always!
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 485
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 404
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Disasters are inherently hard to predict. Pandemics, like earthquakes, wildfires, financial crises. and wars, are not normally distributed; there is no cycle of history to help us anticipate the next catastrophe. But when disaster strikes, we ought to be better prepared than the Romans were when Vesuvius erupted, or medieval Italians when the Black Death struck. We have science on our side, after all.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,028
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 887
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Story4 out of 5 stars 880
Most history is hierarchical: it's about emperors, presidents, prime ministers, and field marshals. It's about states, armies, and corporations. It's about orders from on high. Even history "from below" is often about trade unions and workers' parties. But what if that's simply because hierarchical institutions create the archives that historians rely on? What if we are missing the informal, less well documented social networks that are the true sources of power and drivers of change?
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2 out of 5 stars
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Not his best by a long chalk: Read Steven Pinker.
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- Length: 21 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
The Pity of War makes a simple and provocative argument: the human atrocity known as the Great War was entirely England's fault. According to Niall Ferguson, England entered into war based on naive assumptions of German aims, thereby transforming a Continental conflict into a world war, which it then badly mishandled, necessitating American involvement. The war was not inevitable, Ferguson argues, but rather was the result of the mistaken decisions of individuals who would later claim to have been in the grip of huge impersonal forces.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Ferguson wouldn’t know history if it hit him in the head
- By Schen on 10-07-20
By: Niall Ferguson
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Civilization
- The West and the Rest
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Niall Ferguson
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,349
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,007
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,989
The rise to global predominance of Western civilization is the single most important historical phenomenon of the past five hundred years. All over the world, an astonishing proportion of people now work for Western-style companies, study at Western-style universities, vote for Western-style governments, take Western medicines, wear Western clothes, and even work Western hours. Yet six hundred years ago the petty kingdoms of Western Europe seemed unlikely to achieve much more than perpetual internecine warfare. It was Ming China or Ottoman Turkey that had the look of world civilizations.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Thoughtful analysis of the ascendancy of the West.
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By: Niall Ferguson
-
The Ascent of Money
- A Financial History of the World
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,369
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,198
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,187
Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance. Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot, lucre, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: Call it what you like, it matters. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor. Niall Ferguson shows that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A mostly successful and interesting history
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By: Niall Ferguson
-
The Great Degeneration
- How Institutions Decay and Economies Die
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Paul Slack
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 310
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 263
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 262
Best-selling author and world-renowned historian Niall Ferguson has won widespread acclaim for thought-provoking works such as Civilization and High Financier. The Great Degeneration tackles nothing less than the decline of Western civilization. Ferguson posits that slowing growth, outrageous debt, and antisocial behavior are contributing to the erosion of the West’s once rock-solid foundations. Ferguson excavates the causes and shows how heroic leadership and radical reform are needed to right the course.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Superb as always!
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By: Niall Ferguson
-
Doom
- The Politics of Catastrophe
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Niall Ferguson
- Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 485
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 404
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 401
Disasters are inherently hard to predict. Pandemics, like earthquakes, wildfires, financial crises. and wars, are not normally distributed; there is no cycle of history to help us anticipate the next catastrophe. But when disaster strikes, we ought to be better prepared than the Romans were when Vesuvius erupted, or medieval Italians when the Black Death struck. We have science on our side, after all.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Get through the first chapters
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By: Niall Ferguson
-
The Square and the Tower
- Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Elliot Hill
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,028
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 887
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 880
Most history is hierarchical: it's about emperors, presidents, prime ministers, and field marshals. It's about states, armies, and corporations. It's about orders from on high. Even history "from below" is often about trade unions and workers' parties. But what if that's simply because hierarchical institutions create the archives that historians rely on? What if we are missing the informal, less well documented social networks that are the true sources of power and drivers of change?
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not his best by a long chalk: Read Steven Pinker.
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By: Niall Ferguson
-
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- Explaining World War I
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- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 21 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
The Pity of War makes a simple and provocative argument: the human atrocity known as the Great War was entirely England's fault. According to Niall Ferguson, England entered into war based on naive assumptions of German aims, thereby transforming a Continental conflict into a world war, which it then badly mishandled, necessitating American involvement. The war was not inevitable, Ferguson argues, but rather was the result of the mistaken decisions of individuals who would later claim to have been in the grip of huge impersonal forces.
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Ferguson wouldn’t know history if it hit him in the head
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4 out of 5 stars
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The construction of the House of Morgan
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Empire's Crossroads
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- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 121
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 107
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Story4 out of 5 stars 107
Ever since Christopher Columbus stepped off the Santa Maria onto what is today San Salvador, in the Bahamas, and announced that he had arrived in the Orient, the Caribbean has been a stage for projected fantasies and competition between world powers. In Empire’s Crossroads, British American historian Carrie Gibson traces the story of this coveted area from the northern rim of South America up to Cuba, and from discovery through colonialism to today, offering a vivid, panoramic view of this complex region and its rich, important history.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Careless production mars storytelling
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 330
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 330
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4 out of 5 stars
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Not For The Faint of Heart
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The Hundred Years War
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- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 219
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 183
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 182
From 1337 to 1453 England repeatedly invaded France on the pretext that her kings had a right to the French throne. Though it was a small, poor country, England for most of those "100 years" won the battles, sacked the towns and castles, and dominated the war. Desmond Seward's critically acclaimed account of the Hundred Years War brings to life all of the intrigue, beauty, and royal to-the-death-fighting of that legendary century-long conflict.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Superb narrator and fascintating history
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By: Desmond Seward
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- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 48 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 706
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 497
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 497
Johnson's monumental history of the United States, from the first settlers to the Clinton administration, covers every aspect of American culture: politics, business, art, literature, science, society and customs, complex traditions, and religious beliefs. The story is told in terms of the men and women who shaped and led the nation and the ordinary people who collectively created its unique character.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A British conservative's view of American history.
- By Mike From Mesa on 06-17-09
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Gotham
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- By: Edwin G. Burrows, Mike Wallace
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 67 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 287
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 240
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 240
In Gotham, Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace have produced a monumental work of history, one that ranges from the Indian tribes that settled in and around the island of Manna-hata, to the consolidation of the five boroughs into Greater New York in 1898. It is an epic narrative, a story as vast and as varied as the city it chronicles, and it underscores that the history of New York is the story of our nation. The events and people who crowd this audiobook guarantee that this is no mere local history. It is in fact a portrait of the heart and soul of America....
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5 out of 5 stars
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THANK YOU!!!!!
- By Stephen F (SPFJR) on 09-29-18
By: Edwin G. Burrows, and others
Critic reviews
"The most brilliant British historian of his generation. Ferguson examines the roles of "pirates, planters, missionaries, mandarins, bankers and bankrupts" in the creation of history's largest empire...he writes with splendid panache...and a seemingly effortless, debonair wit." (Andrew Roberts)
"Dazzling ... wonderfully readable." (New York Review of Books)
"A remarkably readable précis of the whole British imperial story - triumphs, deceits, decencies, kindnesses, cruelties and all." (Jan Morris)
What listeners say about Empire
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jean-sebastien Goyette
- 12-01-11
Fantastic introduction to the British empire
This is an ideal book for anybody interested in understanding the rise and fall of the British empire. Although it covers centuries of history, it transitions from eras and countries very well and leaves us wanting to know more (but in a good way).
The author gives a great performance with gives it a sincere angle as we detect passion and even sarcasm in some sections.
I'm looking forward to reading other books from Niall Ferguson.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dr Michael Ayling
- 02-20-12
Ferguson should narrate all his books.
What made the experience of listening to Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order the most enjoyable?
I have seen the TV series and this is a nice recap. Although abridged from the book (was based on the series), it does provide some perspective for comparison of e British Empire with the alternatives, pointing out that
What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?
The author-narrator's enthusiasm.
What about Niall Ferguson’s performance did you like?
His confidence in his work.
If you could give Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order a new subtitle, what would it be?
The original from the book: How Britain made the Modern World.
Any additional comments?
Superb.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Koen
- 09-19-16
Disturbingly pro Empire
The author sounds disturbingly pro Empire: reminiscing its greatness, explaining away its atrocities with on-the-other-hand...
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