Farewell the Trumpets

An Imperial Retreat: Pax Britannica, Book 3

By: Jan Morris

Narrated by: Roy McMillan

The Pax Britannica trilogy is Jan Morris’ magnificent history of the British Empire from 1837 to 1965. It is an extraordinary achievement, as entertaining as it is informative, and as vivid and immediate as it is huge in scope and ambition. This final volume charts the decline and dissolution of what was once the largest empire the world had known.

From the first signs of decay in the imperial ambition in the Boer Wars, through the global shifts in power evident in the two World Wars, it offers a perspective that is honest, evocative, and occasionally elegiac.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©1978 Jan Morris (P)2011 Jan Morris

Fantastic and moving true historical saga

Fantastic and moving true historical saga which provides a new look at the British Empire, its rights, its wrongs and its legacy

Outstanding

Moving, colorful, thoughtful, informative. This is the way history should be presented. Brilliant text and brilliant delivery.

From Conquerors to Survivors

If you've made it through the first two books of this series, you already know exactly what to expect. If you choose to start here because you're more interested in the post-Victorian reversal of fortune, then it's safe to say you could jump in and not really be lost. You'd miss out, but you wouldn't be lost. As in the previous books, the history is presented here in terms of overarching themes and anecdotes that paint a human face on the events of the time period covered. Morris' scholarship and storytelling is high caliber, and narrator Roy McMillan once again delivers as a knowledgeable yet personable guide.

Having once been a superpower, the decline of empire and disasters of war are painted vividly here. While such rise and fall is the cycle all great empires throughout history have faced, the character of the British people give this story a distinct flavor of its own. Where Victoria provided the face of the rise, it was Churchill who gave them the determination to see it through to the end, and the reader can expect him to cast a long shadow across the evolution of these years. It's not just the fortunes or the politics of the British people that have reversed in this era; indeed, I feel perhaps that it's their sense of pride. Before Victoria's death, the pride was the innocent knowledge that they could do anything because they were untested in that era. After, especially in the years of the two world wars and beyond, it's the knowledge that they have survived the impossible through sheer willpower. It's perhaps for this reason this story continues to capture the imagination of the historically-minded. If you fit this description, this book's for you.

The British Empire Declines and Fades Away

This third volume in the Pax Britannica series picks up the story following Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee on June 22 1897 and takes it forward to the death of Winston Churchill in 1965. Of course, it didn't immediately seem that the British Empire was in any sort of decline. Following World War I, the empire was larger than it had ever been with the additions of Iraq and Palestine and Arabia.

However, the carnage of the Great War (as it was then known) had sapped all the confidence from the English people and their conviction that they had the right to rule other people. Not all of them, as the ones living in the colonial possessions in India and Southeast Asia and Africa - but the conviction that powers an imperialism had gone away.

As always Jan Morris moves this wonderful history along with many personal observations from those who had actually been in India and Singapore and Port Siad. The sights, smells, prejudices, and actions of empire are beautifully documented. After World War II (or as this history calls it "the last great imperial war') the British subdivided India and skedaddled in 73 short days in 1947 leaving carnage behind as India's peoples killed each other with ferocity. And from then on they gave away their empire just as quickly as they could. Even Churchill couldn't stop the tide, and by the time of his death empire and colonialism were considered anachronistic.

This wonderful and compelling story is superbly narrated by Roy McMillan. His work on this trilogy has made me look for other things he has narrated simply because of his terrific work.

Nothing is ever as simple as it seems

An interesting review of how Britain obtained and then shed an empire and just how it all happened without a concerted plan or a real overall strategy. Not quite an "Accidental Empire" but neither a thought through plan to dominate the people of the countries they added to the collection. Worth every minute and dollar to learn interesting facts and to remember that it often takes a long time for the sense (or lack thereof) of a decision to become clear.

Production values in the audio is of the normal Audbile high standard.

Rule Brittania!

Brittania rule the waves! Phenomenal account of the end and reasons for the end of the British Empire. A must-read.

Imperial history comes to life

Like the previous two parts, this is a masterwork which will appeal to anyone interested in history. It is by turns funny, tragic, personal, reflective, sad, and always entertaining. It could not have been written in the same ironic but respectful way by anyone of the previous generation, and perhaps not of the successive (my) generation.

The narrator is one of the best I have listened to, varying his pace, tone, accent and delivery with almost perfect judgment.

For a person new to audiobooks with curiosity about the Empire, I would recommend volume one (Heaven's Command) and this as terrific listens. Volume two is perhaps slower and, overall, less entertaining, but still well worth the price. The chapters in this book about the near east campaign in WWI, Indian independence, Ireland and the Empire between the wars, and the parts in volume one about the Indian mutiny, African exploration and the exploitation of Canada are some of the best audio listening you could get.

To listen to this is to disappear into a vanished and fascinating world.

History for lovers of History

This is not for the historian, but rather for the lover of the human side of the story of history.

Calling all Anglophiles and History buffs

We never seemed to get to modern history in school. This was a fascinating look at the piece of English history that I'm guessing most people don't know or have forgotten..