Partisanship and parochialism in the history of the British Empire: Alan Lester (Ed.), 'The truth about empire: real histories of British colonialism', foreword by Sathnam Sanghera (London: Hurst & Co, 2024)

Journal article : Review

Alexander Morrison critically reviews Alan Lester's edited collection The Truth about Empire: Real Histories of British Colonialism (2024), framing it within the broader context of debates surrounding Nigel Biggar's "Ethics and Empire" research project. Morrison highlights the intense academic criticism Biggar has faced for his attempts at ethical evaluation of the empire, arguing that much of this criticism is politically motivated and exposes double standards. While acknowledging fair criticisms of Biggar on several counts, Morrison points to selective use of evidence, ideological partisanship, and implicit Britain-centrism exposed by most contributors to Lester's volume. Their reliance almost exclusively on Anglophone sources and secondary literature, as well the lack of expertise in broader comparative imperial history amount to parochialism and promotes rather than undermines the idea of British exceptionalism. Ultimately, Morrison argues that the current discourse surrounding the British Empire is often overly simplistic, politically motivated, and fails to acknowledge the multidimensional complexity of historical reality.

Authors: Morrison, A

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Reviewed (other)
• Publisher: Ab Imperio
• Journal: Ab Imperio
• Volume: 2025
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 25-55
• Publication date: 2025-05-21
• Acceptance date: 2025-01-16
• DOI: 10.1353/imp.2025.a960610
• EISSN: 2164-9731
• ISSN: 2166-4072
• Language: English
• Keywords: British Empire; historiography; decolonisation
• Subtype: Review