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hangsangareader's review
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
I read this book for my 19th and 20th centuries English History and Culture class. It was used for oral presentations based on each chapter. This was a great way to learn about many aspects of the British Empire during the Victorian Era.
This book talks of the Empire, not from the traditional ABC's perspective of the 19th century - centering the hegemonic British POV- but from the periphery. We get an overview of people, moments, and policies that affected Victoria's subjects beyond the British Isles. It is an excellent resource, not only to learn about the Empire as a whole but to break down the narrative that all was well, that the natives of different colonies just accepted their fate. There was extensive resistance on the part of many peoples throughout the Empire - in South Africa, they fought nine wars against the Xhosa alone.
There was also the dehumanization of natives by some colonial administrators, Governor George Grey, for example. People were deprived of their land, their resources and forced to live and work to feed the metropolis' belly.
Gender and race are topics this book also addresses: indentured work in New South Wales and attitudes toward Syphilis at home and in the colonies.
This book is an excellent resource if we want a more realistic understanding of imperialism. Easy and quick to read, but packed with a lot of information. Each chapter also includes references to aid in further exploration of the topics and even ideas for other issues that could've been explored in each entry. I recommend it.
This book talks of the Empire, not from the traditional ABC's perspective of the 19th century - centering the hegemonic British POV- but from the periphery. We get an overview of people, moments, and policies that affected Victoria's subjects beyond the British Isles. It is an excellent resource, not only to learn about the Empire as a whole but to break down the narrative that all was well, that the natives of different colonies just accepted their fate. There was extensive resistance on the part of many peoples throughout the Empire - in South Africa, they fought nine wars against the Xhosa alone.
There was also the dehumanization of natives by some colonial administrators, Governor George Grey, for example. People were deprived of their land, their resources and forced to live and work to feed the metropolis' belly.
Gender and race are topics this book also addresses: indentured work in New South Wales and attitudes toward Syphilis at home and in the colonies.
This book is an excellent resource if we want a more realistic understanding of imperialism. Easy and quick to read, but packed with a lot of information. Each chapter also includes references to aid in further exploration of the topics and even ideas for other issues that could've been explored in each entry. I recommend it.
atsundarsingh's review
4.0
Full disclosure: Antoinette is my advisor. I love this. It's short, it's a book that can be read in any order you want. Each letter is a summary of the things I really need to know, and all come with suggested other readings, as well as possible other things that could be subbed in for this letter. It's really made me think about how we present empire, and how we present what 'basics' are for a subject. The ABC is an argument for what we should all know.
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