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The British Overseas, Part 1, Making of the Empire: Exploits of a Nation of Shopkeepers
This is a digital reprint of a volume from 1968 where Professor Carrington brought up to date the first nine chapters of his classic study of the expansion of the British peoples overseas. This volume deals with the early British ventures overseas from the seventeenth to the late nineteenth century. Professor Carrington describes the establishment of the American colonies, the activities of the East India Company, the exploration of the South Seas and British activities in the Cape and the East.
576 pages, Paperback
First published May 2, 1968
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October 23, 2018
I bought this book cheaply about 25 years ago, a toss-out form the university library, and when checking my book inventory I discovered that I hadn't read it, and so thought I'd better do so. I'm glad I did, as it is quite an interesting read, if you are at all histor5ically inclined.
In part it is a history of British colonialism and the policies that lay behind it, and how those policies changed over the years, and in part it is the story of the diaspora of people of British ancestry to various parts of the world.
If you read South African history, the times when South Africa, or parts of it, were under British control (1795-1910) are covered, from a South African point of view, but the policies of successive British governments are rarely explained in a geopolitical context. Even if you read British history, events in other countries are only mentioned as they impinge on British domestic policies. This book helps a great deal in giving a wider view.
It also impinges on family history and helps to explain it. My wife's great great great grandfather was born in Canada in 1790, and joined the commissariat department of the British Army. He was widowed in 1844, came to the Cape Colony in 1846 with the younger ones of his surviving children. One of them joined the Cape Mounted Rifles, then was transferred to India, then to China, and ended up in New Zealand, where he retired. This book explains the circumstances of his transfer to India, and what he was doing in China (fighting the war for, rather than against drugs). The book helps to make sense of his rather fascinating diaries of the period.
In part it is a history of British colonialism and the policies that lay behind it, and how those policies changed over the years, and in part it is the story of the diaspora of people of British ancestry to various parts of the world.
If you read South African history, the times when South Africa, or parts of it, were under British control (1795-1910) are covered, from a South African point of view, but the policies of successive British governments are rarely explained in a geopolitical context. Even if you read British history, events in other countries are only mentioned as they impinge on British domestic policies. This book helps a great deal in giving a wider view.
It also impinges on family history and helps to explain it. My wife's great great great grandfather was born in Canada in 1790, and joined the commissariat department of the British Army. He was widowed in 1844, came to the Cape Colony in 1846 with the younger ones of his surviving children. One of them joined the Cape Mounted Rifles, then was transferred to India, then to China, and ended up in New Zealand, where he retired. This book explains the circumstances of his transfer to India, and what he was doing in China (fighting the war for, rather than against drugs). The book helps to make sense of his rather fascinating diaries of the period.
Displaying 1 of 1 review