In 1891, as the British empire continued to expand, Rudyard Kipling put his pen in service to it with The English Flag. “And what should they know of England who only England know?” asked the poet, lamenting those of his compatriots who, having never stepped outside of England, were ignorant of the sacrifices made abroad in their name, and who, though patriotic, never embraced what he saw as the civilising mission of their empire
In Empireworld, Sathnam Sanghera investigates the discomfiting legacy of empire across the globe (along with Britain’s often wilful amnesia in this area). It’s a sequel to Empireland (2021), which looked inward at legacies of empire in Britain – from the mass migration that enabled the NHS to thrive to the popularity of Indian restaurants.
