The British Empire, wrote Adam Smith, 'has hitherto been not an empire, but the project of an empire' and John Darwin offers a magisterial global history of the rise and fall of that great imperial project. The British Empire, he argues, was much more than a group of colonies ruled over by a scattering of British expatriates until eventual independence. It was, above all, a global phenomenon. Its power derived rather less from the assertion of imperial authority than from the fusing together of three different kinds of empire: the settler empire of the 'white dominions'; the commercial empire of the City of London; and 'Greater India' which contributed markets, manpower and military muscle. This unprecedented history charts how this intricate imperial web was first strengthened, then weakened and finally severed on the rollercoaster of global economic, political and geostrategic upheaval on which it rode from beginning to end.

The British Empire, wrote Adam Smith, 'has hitherto been not an empire, but the project of an empire' and John Darwin offers a magisterial global history of the rise and fall of that great imperial project. The British Empire, he argues, was much more than a group of colonies ruled over by a scattering of British expatriates until eventual independence. It was, above all, a global phenomenon. Its power derived rather less from the assertion of imperial authority than from the fusing together of three different kinds of empire: the settler empire of the 'white dominions'; the commercial empire of the City of London; and 'Greater India' which contributed markets, manpower and military muscle. This unprecedented history charts how this intricate imperial web was first strengthened, then weakened and finally severed on the rollercoaster of global economic, political and geostrategic upheaval on which it rode from beginning to end.

《后帖木儿时代:全球帝国的兴与衰(1400-2000)》的核心是各种关系的戏剧性的转移和不可预知的变化的故事，这些关系存在于西方、各国政府与伊斯兰世界的帝国和东亚伟大的文明社会之间。它建构了历史的观点，在其中我们能够更清楚地看到亚洲的伟大复兴，还能看到我们现代“全球化”世界的重要特征。如果我们在乎我们的未来，我们也要在意我们欧亚的过去。 帖木儿是最后一位“世界征服者”：他的军队沿途抢劫和杀戮，从地中海沿岸一直到中国边境。来自西伯利亚大草原的游牧部落的骑兵在数个世纪中，一直令欧洲和亚洲感到恐惧。但是随着帖木儿于1405年去世，一个历史时代也终结了。未来属于巨大的王朝帝国——中国人的、莫卧儿人的、伊朗人的和奥斯曼人的——在那里集中了欧亚的大部分文化和财富，对于来自欧亚“远西”的海洋航行者来说，刚刚开始穿越黑暗之海的冒险。 约翰·达尔文在他的鸿篇巨著《后帖木儿时代》中，从一个全新的角度来查看我们全球的过去。我们对全球历史的观念依然被源自西方的观点支配：正是欧洲的扩张占据了中心舞台。但对于这本书的600年跨度的大部分时间来说，亚洲的巨大帝国更堪与来自欧洲的入侵者相比。在欧亚进行的剧烈变革改变了这种力量的平衡，尽管不是如此彻底。中国，排除各种困难，一直生存到今天。英帝国来了又走了。纳粹帝国几乎立刻就垮台了。帝国的兴起、衰落和持续——及它们后面的因素——一直是世界历史中最迷人的难题。 《后帖木儿时代》涉及欧洲和亚洲历史上最著名和最令人兴奋的事件——也使它们再次鲜活和令人吃惊。

John Darwin won the Wolfson History Prize for his book "After Tamerlane: The Rise and Fall of Global Empires". In "Unfinished Empire" he examines the enormous influence of the British Empire. It has shaped the world in countless ways: repopulating continents, carving out modern nations, imposing its own language, technology and values. For perhaps two centuries its existence, expansion and final collapse were the single largest determinant of historical events. Now that it has gone, it seems to us baffling that such a strange entity should ever have existed. What was the dynamic that led to English-speakers standing on the shores of the Pacific, controlling the world's sea transport and creating a financial system that revolutionized the world's economies? John Darwin's provocative and richly enjoyable new book is an attempt to make us see anew how diverse, strange and in many ways chaotic the British Empire really was, controlled by a range of interests often at loggerheads with each other and as much driven on by others' weaknesses as by its own strength. By understanding the different phases of imperial conquest, the wildly different types of colonist (with soldiers and farmers, merchants and government officials often barely on speaking terms), and what made the Empire ultimately collapse in ruins, "Unfinished Empire" is a surprising, original and often critical account of an extraordinary phenomenon. Reviews: "John Darwin's "Unfinished Empire" surpasses even his own previous work to give an unmatched overview of imperial Britain's rise and fall". (Stephen Howe, "Independent" Books Of The Year). "A breadth of perspective few other imperial historians can boast. The British Empire really does look different in the light of it...Breadth of vision, fizzing ideas and a brilliant style as well as superb scholarship...It deserves to supplant every other book on this topic, including - though my publisher and bank manager won't thank me for saying this - my own. It is British imperial history at last without hang-ups; the one we've been waiting for". (Bernard Porter, "History Today"). "A brilliantly perceptive analysis of the forces and ideas that drove the creation of an extraordinary enterprise...Bringing together his huge erudition, scrupulous fairness and elegant prose, Mr Darwin has produced a wonderfully stimulating account of something that today seems almost incredibly yet was, in historical terms, only yesterday. It is also a much-needed antidote both to the leftish consensus of the past 50 years that Britain's empire was unrelievedly awful ...and the recent triumphalist revisionism of more conservative historians". ("Economist"). "Engrossing...What Darwin adds to this [subject] is a rare, wonderful capacity for comparison...Seeing the imperial experience in the round like this does gives us a clearer, more subtle appreciation of the range of power and violence at play. It raises the historical writing on empire to another level". ("BBC History Magazine"). "Balanced, original and impressive...Subtle ...intelligent". ("Literary Review"). "Comprehensive...Darwin's erudition allows him to skirt around the narrow orthodoxies of apologist v critic and provide an insightful account of Britain's unlikely period of global hegemony". ("Sunday Times"). "How incredibly refreshing it is when as distinguished an historian as John Darwin ...writes something as thoughtful, well-researched and persuasive as "Unfinished Empire", which explains the half-millennium-long expansion of Britain across the globe in terms that genuinely make sense...The author's deep familiarity with all the key sources of this vast subject allows him to pluck examples for his arguments from across the centuries and continents. ..Best of all ...is the thought that Darwin's book might at long last herald the victory of the post-Marxist phase of imperial historiography, and not a moment too soon". (Andrew Roberts, "Sunday Telegraph" Book of the Week). About the author: John Darwin's interest lies in the history of empires, both their rise and fall. He has written extensively on the decline of Britain's empire and teaches imperial and global history at Oxford, where is a Fellow of Nuffield College. Most recently he is the author of "After Tamerlane: The Rise and Fall of Global Empires, 1400-2000", which won the Wolfson History Prize, and "The Empire Project: The Rise and Fall of the British World-System, 1830-1970".