The Empire's New Clothes: The Myth of the Commonwealth

by Philip Murphy

In the wake of Brexit, the Commonwealth has been identified as an important body for future British trade and diplomacy, but few know what it actually does. How is it organized and what has held it together for so long? How important is the Queen's role as Head of the Commonwealth? Most importantly, why has it had such a troubled recent past, and is it realistic to imagine that its fortunes might be reversed?

In The Empire's New Clothes, Murphy strips away the gilded self-image of the Commonwealth to reveal an irrelevant institution afflicted by imperial amnesia. He offers a personal perspective on this complex and poorly understood institution, and asks if it can ever escape from the shadow of the British Empire to become an organization based on shared values, rather than a shared history.

Genres: Politics, History, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Philip Murphy is Professor of British and Commonwealth History at the University of London.

Reviews

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about the modern Commonwealth of Nations, a political association of 53 member states that many, including the author, see as the last remnants of the British Empire. As the glib title suggests, Mr Murphy is no fan of the Commonwealth, and is harshly critical of its role in world politics. He makes a series of compelling arguments throughout his book, eloquently explaining that the Commonwealth today feels like an anachronism with only a vague political role, a white elephant bureaucracy that wastes enormous amounts of money and time, and not living up to its name – the “wealth” of the nations involved is certainly not evenly distributed, or “common”, and several of its member states have poor human rights records.

While it’s perfectly fine be strongly critical, and even end with a harshly sceptical conclusion, credibility goes right out of the window if the discussion is completely biased, without a balanced view of the opposing arguments. Ironically, author Murphy is the Director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, very firmly biting the hand that feeds him. Despite his prestigious position, he seems unable to see any positives in the Commonwealth at all, and refuses to even consider that its role as an already-established organisation could be far more active and useful as the world’s political landscape changes over time. He also feels it necessary to virtue signal in his final chapter, adding his own personal views of modern politics that have no business being in this volume.

Mr Murphy is a competent writer, and his text is easily readable, even to people who are not educated in politics, but he does not apply the academic rigor to present an even debate in this volume. Instead, he uses his position as credentials to push his own political agenda. While the book starts strongly, this partisan view sours his text and leaves readers feeling disengaged by the end.

[Jonathon McKenney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scathing and surprisingly funny, this was a light, but super informative, read about the complete and utter flop that the Commonwealth represents.