A historian dares ask: was the British Empire actually good? Buckle up.
Season 1 • Episode 6
LatestThe fall of the British empire is usually attributed to Nationalist groups fighting for independence, yet as Niall Ferguson argues in this final programme of the series, it was really due to the crippling cost of running the empire and financing the two World Wars. He reflects on the achievements and problems of the empire and concludes that in its twilight years Britain did more good than harm in fighting two far worse empires, namely Japan and Germany. Visiting some of the hot spots of the two World Wars and of the campaigns for independence that followed, such as Gallipoli, Istanbul, Suez, Amritsar and Singapore, presenter Niall Ferguson gives us a vivid picture of an empire on its last legs.
How did Britain come to rule the world? asks Niall Ferguson in Empire. What would today's world be like now if it hadn't? Could such an organisation – run by, according to Winston Churchill, 'the greedy trader, the inopportune missionary, the ambitious soldier and the lying spectator' – ever have been a force for good?
Writing
Ferguson's provocations are infuriatingly articulate.
Production
Glossy BBC visuals make colonization weirdly cinematic.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This aired right after 9/11 and Iraq invasion, making its 'civilizing mission' defense deeply politically loaded.
Ferguson later became a Trump advisor; rewatching his 'superpower responsibility' arguments hits different now.
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