Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire

Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire is a 2022 nonfiction history book by American historian and professor Caroline Elkins. The book covers the history of the British Empire from the Great Bengal famine of 1770 through the post-World War II period of recurring end-of-empire insurgencies up until the present-day, including the Mau Mau High Court case and the ongoing imperial history wars. The book was short-listed for the 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction.

Background

Caroline Elkins' first book, for which she won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, was Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya (2005), examines human rights abuses in British detention facilities in Kenya during the Mau Mau rebellion.{{Cite web |date=2020-07-29 |title=Britain's Mau Mau Detention Camps {{!}} Scottish Centre for Global History |url=https://globalhistory.org.uk/2020/07/britains-mau-mau-detention-camps/ |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=globalhistory.org.uk |language=en-US}}{{Cite book |last=Elkins |first=Caroline |title=Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya |year=2005}} Elkins says that she started writing Legacy of Violence to answer questions which had been raised in Imperial Reckoning.{{Cite book |last=Elkins |first=Caroline |title=Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2022 |isbn=9780307272423 |pages=24}} Elkins describes her research for Legacy of Violence as "arduous," in part because there were many missing documents relating to the detention camps, and British-controlled colonial Kenya in general.{{Cite book |last=Elkins |first=Caroline |title=Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2022 |isbn=9780307272423 |pages=24–25}} In 2009, four years after the publication of Imperial Reckoning, five survivors of the British detention camps in Kenya had sued the British government, and Elkins had appeared as an expert witness on the survivors' behalf. During the investigation, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) discovered 300 boxes of documents relating to the British detention facilities.{{Cite web |date=2012-11-30 |title=Mau Mau massacre cover-up detailed in newly-opened secret files |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/30/maumau-massacre-secret-files |access-date=2022-10-21 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Exclusive: The UK Has Just Unearthed New 'Top Secret' Colonial-Era Government Files |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/pa4e8v/exclusive-the-uk-has-just-unearthed-new-top-secret-colonial-era-government-files |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=www.vice.com |date=11 May 2015 |language=en}} Elkins began research for Legacy of Violence shortly after, combing through both the newly released documents as well as 8,800 files from 36 other colonies, and expanding her research to pre-World War II Britain.{{Cite book |last=Elkins |first=Caroline |title=Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2022 |isbn=9780307272423 |pages=25}}

Overview

Elkins begins by examining the impact of British colonization on Kenya, where the empire's policies of forced labor, land confiscation, and repression led to a brutal campaign of violence against the indigenous population.{{Cite news |last=Parry |first=Marc |date=2016-08-18 |title=Uncovering the brutal truth about the British empire |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/aug/18/uncovering-truth-british-empire-caroline-elkins-mau-mau |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0261-3077}} She details the horrific practices of the British colonial administration, including the use of concentration camps, torture, and summary executions.{{Cite magazine |last=Khilnani |first=Sunil |date=2022-03-28 |title=The British Empire Was Much Worse Than You Realize |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/04/04/the-british-empire-was-much-worse-than-you-realize-caroline-elkinss-legacy-of-violence |access-date=2024-01-28 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}{{Cite book |last=Elkins |first=Caroline |title=Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya |year=2005}}

The book then expands to examine the broader legacy of the British Empire, exploring its impact on other countries, such as India and Ireland. The book explores how the government at home often disregarded colonial peoples, highlighting the 1770 famine in Bengal. Elkins talks about how the British East India Company and their various associates made record profits for London, even while the death count from the famine steadily rose due to high taxes and high grain prices.{{Cite book |last=Elkins |first=Caroline |title=Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2022 |pages=37–44}}

Reception

According to Book Marks, the book overall received "rave" reviews.{{Cite web |title=Book Marks reviews of Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire by Caroline Elkins |url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/legacy-of-violence-a-history-of-the-british-empire/ |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=Book Marks |language=en-US}}

Tim Adams wrote in The Guardian about the book, "Legacy of Violence is a formidable piece of research that sets itself the ambition of identifying the character of British power over the course of two centuries and four continents."{{Cite web |date=2022-03-13 |title=Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire by Caroline Elkins review – the brutal truth about Britain's past |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/mar/13/legacy-of-violence-a-history-of-the-british-empire-by-caroline-elkins-review-the-brutal-truth-about-britains-past |access-date=2022-10-16 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} Nicholas Sprenger stated about the book: "This is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the British Empire or imperialism at large."{{Cite web |last=Sprenger |first=Nicholas |title=Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire (Review) |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/review/311/legacy-of-violence-a-history-of-the-british-empire/ |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=www.worldhistory.org |language=en}} The book was positively reviewed by Kirkus Reviews,{{cite web |date=February 1, 2022 |title=Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/caroline-elkins/legacy-of-violence/ |access-date=February 28, 2022 |website=www.kirkusreviews.com |publisher=Kirkus}} which called the book "a scathing indictment of the long and brutal history of British imperialism", as well as the Financial Times,{{Cite news |date=2022-03-17 |title=Legacy of Violence — the bloody ends of empire |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e7c4feac-7123-4e7c-8a7e-bf13107ee6f9 |access-date=2023-03-13 |work=Financial Times}} Library Journal,{{cite web |last=Keymer |first=David |date=February 4, 2022 |title=Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire |url=https://www.libraryjournal.com/review/legacy-of-violence-a-history-of-the-british-empire-2134257 |access-date=February 28, 2022 |website=www.libraryjournal.com |publisher=Library Journal}} and Publishers Weekly,{{cite web |date=October 19, 2021 |title=Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-307-27242-3 |access-date=February 28, 2022 |website=www.publishersweekly.com |publisher=Publishers Weekly}} and was listed as a book of the year by the New Statesman,{{Cite web |last=Statesman |first=New |date=2022-12-03 |title=Books of the year 2022 |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2022/12/best-books-2022-year-reviews |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}} and Waterstones.{{cite web |date=September 14, 2022 |title=Best books of 2022 |url=https://www.waterstones.com/blog/the-best-books-of-2022-history |access-date=March 2, 2023}} The New York Times put the book on their Top 100 Most Notable Books of 2022 list.{{Cite news |last=Staff |first=The New York Times Books |date=2022-11-22 |title=100 Notable Books of 2022 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/22/books/notable-books.html |access-date=2023-03-14 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The book was included in the Best History Books of 2022 by historian R.J.B. Bosworth.{{Cite journal |date=December 2022 |title=Books of the Year |url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=160008184&site=eds-live&scope=site |journal=History Today |volume=72 |issue=12 |pages=94–100}} It also made the list of BBC History Magazine’s Books of the Year 2022.{{Cite web |title=21 best books for history lovers: BBC History Magazine's Books of the Year 2022 |url=https://www.historyextra.com/magazine/history-books-year-2019-christmas-gift-guide/ |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=HistoryExtra |language=en}} Robert Lyman gave it a negative review in conservative British magazine The Critic,{{cite web |date=October 2, 2022 |title=Violence against history |url=https://thecritic.co.uk/violence-against-history/}} as did Bruce Gilley in the Washington Examiner.{{Cite news |last=Gilley |first=Bruce |date=2022-02-25 |title=A history of colonialism that's more angry than accurate |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/foreign-policy/1093138/a-history-of-colonialism-thats-more-angry-than-accurate/ |language=en-US}}

University of Maryland historian Richard N. Price said that "if the book tends to overstuff its argument, it is also a book that is curiously thin in its conceptualization. Nuance and subtlety are strikingly absent throughout all the key arguments of the book." However, Price also noted that "the author demonstrates an impressive command both of archival research and of the secondary literature.""[https://networks.h-net.org/node/5293/reviews/11948424/price-elkins-legacy-violence-history-british-empire Price on Elkins, 'Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire']." H-Empire. December 2022.

Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire

Background

Overview

Reception

See also

References

Further reading