MARC record from Internet Archive

LEADER: 02653cam 2200409 a 4500
001 BSC01-
005 20081201162420.0
008 080328r20082007nyuabf b 001 0 eng
010 $a 2008014192
019 $a212855104
020 $a9780307268297
020 $a0307268292
035 $a(OCoLC)215177421
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dBAKER$dYDXCP$dBTCTA$dJTE$dC#P$dBUR$dBWX$dYBM
043 $ae-uk---$ab------
049 $aYBMM
050 00 $aDA16$b.B675 2008
100 1 $aBrendon, Piers.
245 14 $aThe decline and fall of the British Empire, 1781-1997 /$cPiers Brendon.
250 $a1st American ed.
260 $aAlfred A. Knopf :$bNew York,$c2008.
300 $axxii, 786 p., [24] p. of plates :$bill., col. maps ;$c24 cm.
500 $aMaps on endpapers.
500 $a"Originally published in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape, London"--T.p. verso.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [665]-759) and index.
520 $aAfter the American Revolution, the British Empire appeared doomed. But over the next 150 years it grew to become the greatest and most diverse empire the world has ever seen--from Canada to Australia to China, India, and Egypt--seven times larger than the Roman Empire at its apogee. Yet it was also fundamentally weak, as Piers Brendon shows in this panoramic chronicle. Run from a tiny island base, it operated on a shoestring with the help of local elites. It enshrined a belief in freedom that would fatally undermine its authority. Spread too thin, and facing wars, economic crises, and domestic discord, the empire would vanish almost as quickly as it appeared. Within a generation, it collapsed, sometimes amid bloodshed, leaving unfinished business in Rhodesia, the Falklands, and Hong Kong. Above all, it left a contested legacy: at best, a sporting spirit, a legal code, and a near-universal language; at worst, failed states and internecine strife.--From publisher description.
651 0 $aGreat Britain$xColonies$xHistory.
651 0 $aCommonwealth countries$xHistory.
610 20 $aCommonwealth (Organization)$xHistory.
650 0 $aImperialism$xHistory.
651 0 $aGreat Britain$xCivilization.
856 42 $3Contributor biographical information$uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0902/2008014192-b.html
856 42 $3Publisher description$uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0902/2008014192-d.html
856 41 $3Sample text$uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0902/2008014192-s.html
856 41 $3Table of contents only$uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0902/2008014192-t.html
852 0 $aBSC$bBSCMN$cAYBM$hDA16$i.B675 2008
994 $aC0$bYBM