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Systemic savagery
Insurgent Empire lays bare the depredations of British imperialism, one of the greatest engines of exploitation and oppression in human history, says ANDREW MURRAY
'Civilising' mission: British army operations against the Mau Mau [Imperial War Museum  ]

Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance and British Dissent
by Priyamvada Gopal
(Verso, £25)

AS BORIS JOHNSON sets out on his self-defined mission to make Britain feel “great” once more, we shall no doubt hear a lot more about the record of the days when Britannia ruled the waves. Right-wing historians like Niall Ferguson and Andrew Roberts will doubtless be on hand to assist.

So this book by Cambridge academic Priyamvada Gopal could not be more timely. She reminds us of the reality of empire, of resistance to it by the peoples it oppressed and how that impacted on politics in Britain itself.

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