Empire: A Very Short Introduction

I'll echo other reviewers who have noted that author Stephen Howe has created a really fascinating overview of an amorphous subject. He begins by coming up with useful definitions of empire, imperialism, colonialism, and colonization, and then proceeds from there. A listing of chapter titles can give you the breadth of the coverage: 1 - Who's an Imperialist 2 - Empire by land 3 - Empire by sea 4 - Ends and aftermaths of empire 5 - Studying and judging empires It can be argued that the topic is way too large to be really dealt with in a short book, but this is a solid start. The author has presented good information, described differing viewpoints, plus offered good insights. He makes the reader think about the subject in different ways. I've read a bunch of the OUP VSI series, an excellent series in general, and this may be the one I've enjoyed the most.

Stephen Howe accomplishes a tricky job of cramming masses of Empire terminology, theory, history and analysis into 130 or so pages. Empire is a slim, but rich treat for anyone who wants to engage with what defines an empire and how empires have played out throughout history - from the Greeks, through the Romans, the Mongols, The British the Americans and more. The history of the world is pretty much the history of Empires, and understanding how they work is a vital component of any person's political and historical consciousness. And towards the end, Howe does a fine job in assessing the impact of recent European colonization and decolonization in a balanced and interesting way. Dip in.

Kudos to author Stephen Howe for jamming so much solid info on empire and its related topics (such as imperialism, colonialism, decolonization, etc.) into a book that clocks in at under 130 pages. I've read three of these Very Short Introduction series books; they've all been good, and this one is the best so far in terms of readability and quality of information. Some of the books in this series can be surprisingly dense despite their slimness, but I found this one to be a quick read. Howe is probably better at raising questions than he is at giving final answers, but I don't think that's a bad thing -- this is a messy topic. Think of it as kind of a primer, and you won't be disappointed. Howe does an excellent job of defining some of the terminology related to empire, which is no small task (not least because the terms are often so misused, confused, and/or politicized.) Much of the book consists of comparing and contrasting the different empires found throughout history. Admittedly, he spends more space discussing the modern (late-19th/early-20th century) European empires than he does land-based and/or ancient empires. If the book has a single 'weakness,' that's probably it -- though in order to bolster the sections about land-based and ancient empires, Howe would have had to break the 'Very Short Intro' format. As someone who studied the British Empire in grad school, I was always intrigued by the idea of comparative studies on empires on a grand historical and global scale. However, there is surprisingly little comparative work done on empires out there -- doubly surprising when you consider that, in the grand sweep of human history, empires have been much more common and have been around a lot longer (since about 4K years ago) than nation-states. Howe's Very Short contribution is a good starting point, and provides a lot of food for thought for anyone interested in this topic. Oh, one last thing -- the Further Reading list at the end of the book is excellent.

Readers and especially students who want a quick overview of the meaning of "empire" (by no means self-evident) will find a bright diamond in Professor Howe's short text. Encompassed in this slender volume is an attempt to clarify what it means to have an empire, how that differs from colonialism, imperialism, globalization and other competing conceptual categories; a brief description of the leading empires -- Roman, Ottoman, Austria-Hungarian, British, Chinese; and an especially good discussion of relatively recent debates on the overall effects of Empire, with particular attention on the consequences of empire for the dispersion of democracy and the creation of global wealth in countries formerly within the shadow of an empire's reach. The issue of whether and to what extent the U.S. constitutes an empire is raised. This book is a great place to identify the many faceted debates associated with empire for more detailed, subsequent investigation.