Book Review: Empire, by Niall Ferguson

I found this book to be an engaging and educational read. As someone with very limited knowledge of the British Empire, I found the pacing and level of detail in this book to be just right. I thought the author did a good job of telling the story of the British Empire without getting into too much discussion about whether the actions of the British were good or bad or justified. After reading this book, I definitely feel I have a decent surface-level understanding of the origins of the empire in the 1600s, the spread and growth of the empire through the 1700s and 1800s, and the eventual demise of the empire in the 1900s. Also, as the subtitle of the book promised, I definitely feel I have a better understanding of how the modern world has been shaped by the Empire.

Here's a brief timeline of the standout events which the author discussed in the book:  

• 1600s (first half)
• English Civil War.
• Increased migration of Brits to America.
• 1600s (second half)
• Pirating the ships and islands of more successful empires like the Spanish.
• 1700s (first half)
• The rise of sugar imports into Britain.
• Growth in the number of slave exports from Africa to America on British ships.
• 1700s (second half)
• The rise of re-exporting stimulants like sugar, caffeine and tobacco to continental Europe.
• Britain emerges the victor in the Seven Years War over France.
• American War of Independence.
• Increased transportation of British convicts to Australia.
• 1800s (first half)
• Slavery is made illegal in British territory.
• The rise of Christian missionary groups and missionaries operating in British colonies.
• 1800s (second half)
• The Indian Mutiny.
• The Industrial Revolution shrinks the world with the construction of bigger, faster ships and the invention of the telegraph.
• Construction of the HMS Warrior battleship is completed.
• The first meeting of the Indian National Congress is held. (Though initially intended to defuse Indian disaffection with the British Raj, Congress would become the crucible of Indian nationalism.)
• A third of Africa is annexed to the British Empire.
• 1900s (first half)
• The Boer War is fought (against the Boer states) for control of South Africa. (Survivors were herded into concentration camps.)
• World War I
• World War II
• 1990s (second half)
• End of the Empire.

Lastly, here are some quotes from the book:

Pirates: "... when an expedition went wrong – as when Sir Humphrey Gilbert's expedition to the West Indies foundered off Ireland in 1578 – the survivors resorted to piracy to cover their expenses."

Pirates: "The Empire had begun with the stealing of gold; it progressed with the cultivation of sugar."

Sugar Rush: "The rise of the British Empire, it might be said, had less to do with the Protestant work ethic or English individualism than with the British sweet tooth."

Sugar Rush: "Taken together, the new drugs gave English society an almighty hit; the Empire, it might be said, was built on a huge sugar, caffeine and nicotine rush – a rush nearly everyone could experience."

Sugar Rush: "Indian textiles – which even a servant like [Daniel] Defoe's 'plain country Joan' could afford – meant that the tea-swilling English not only felt better; they looked better too."

Men of War: "... they [the Indians] allowed themselves to be divided – and, ultimately, ruled."

Men of War: "... no matter how devoted they [the British] might be to Indian culture, their aim was always to transfer their profits back home to Britain. The notorious 'drain' of capital from India to Britain had begun."

The Taxman: "British power in India continued to be based on the sword. War after war extended British rule even further..."

The Taxman: "They had robbed the Spaniards, copied the Dutch, beaten the French and plundered the Indians. Now they ruled supreme."

Plantation: "Here was one of the key differences between British America and Latin America. Spanish settlers tended to be solo male encomanderos... the majority of male Iberian migrants therefore took their sexual partners from the (dwindling) indigenous or the (rapidly growing) slave population. The result within a few generations was a substantial mixed-race population of mestizos and mulattos (Hispanic and African). British settlers in North America were not only much more numerous; they were encouraged to bring their wives and children with them, thus preserving their culture more or less intact. In North America, as in Northern Ireland, therefore, British colonisation was a family affair. As a consequence, New England really was a new England, far more than New Spain would ever be a new Spain."

Plantation: "There were probably around 2 million indigenous people in the territory of the modern United States in 1500. By 1700 the number was 750,000. By 1820 there were just 325,000."

Black and White: "We tend to think of the British Empire as a phenomenon of white migration, yet between 1662 and 1807 nearly three and a half million Africans came to the New World as slaves transported in British ships. That was over three times the number of white migrants in the same period."

Black and White: "By 1770... Britain's Atlantic empire seemed to have found a natural equilibrium. The triangular trade between Britain, West Africa and the Caribbean kept the plantations supplied with labour. The mainland American colonies kept them supplied with victuals. Sugar and tobacco streamed back to Britain, a substantial proportion for re-export to the Continent. And the profits from these New World commodities oiled the wheels of the Empire's Asian commerce."

Civil War: "... it is the great paradox of the American Revolution... that the ones who revolted against British rule were the best-off of all Britain's colonial subjects."

Civil War: "It was the constitutional principle – the right of the British parliament to levy taxes on the American colonists without their consent – that was the true bone of contention."

Civil War: "... they [the American colonists] wanted their assemblies to be put on a par with the Westminster Parliament..."

Civil War: "It has sometimes been argued that in gaining Canada in the Seven Years War, Britain had undermined her position in America. Without the French threat, why should the thirteen colonies stay loyal?"

Civil War: "... the loss of America had the unforeseen effect of securing Canada for the Empire, thanks to the flood of English-speaking Loyalists who, together with new British settlers, would eventually reduce the French Quebecois to a beleaguered minority."

Civil War: "The irony is that having won their independence in the name of liberty, the American colonists went on to perpetuate slavery in the southern states... By contrast, within a few decades of having lost the American colonies, the British abolished first the slave trade and then slavery itself throughout their Empire."

Mars: "The great paradox of Australian history is that what started out as a colony populated by people whom Britain had thrown out proved to be so loyal to the British Empire for so long. America had begun as a combination of tobacco plantation and Puritan utopia, a creation of economic and religious liberty, and ended up as a rebel republic. Australia started out as a jail, the very negation of liberty. Yet the more reliable colonists turned out to be not the Pilgrims but the prisoners."

Mars: "... transportation there [New South Wales in Australia] was no longer a deterrent to crime, but rather a free passage to a new life, with the prospect of a golden handshake in the form of a land grant at the end of one's sentence."

Mars: "The colonists brought with them contamination in the form of infectious diseases to which the Aborigines had no resistance, and cultivation which implied the exclusion of the nomadic tribes from their ancestral hunting grounds."

Mars: "The case of the Aborigines was a striking example of the way attitudes diverged over distance. The British in London regarded the problem quite differently from the British in Sydney. Here was the very essence of the imperial dilemma. How could an empire that claimed to be founded on liberty justify overruling the wishes of colonists when they clashed with those of a very distant legislature?"

From Clapham to Freetown: "This was the birth of a new kind of politics, the politics of the pressure group. Thanks to the work of zealous activists armed only with pens, paper and moral indignation, Britain had turned against slavery."

From Clapham to Freetown: "Here was a measure of the strength of the campaign against the slave trade: that it could mobilise not only legislators to ban the trade, but also the Royal Navy to enforce the ban."

From Clapham to Freetown: "For two hundred years the Empire had engaged in trade, warfare and colonisation. It had exported British goods, capital and people. Now, however, it aspired to export British culture."

From Clapham to Freetown: "There could not be a greater contrast between the missionaries' motives and those of previous generations of empire-builders, the swashbucklers, the slavers and the settlers."

The Clash of Civilisations: "... by the 1830s and 1840s 40 percent of the total value of Indian exports took the form of opium..."

The Clash of Civilisations: "The rock on which British rule was founded was the Indian Army."

The Clash of Civilisations: "When Delhi fell to 'British' forces, those forces were mostly Indian."

The Clash of Civilisations: "In the time between [David] Livingstone's death in 1873 and [Henry Morton] Stanley's death in 1904 around a third of Africa would be annexed to the British Empire; virtually all the rest would be taken over by a handful of other European powers. And it is only against this background of political domination that the conversion of sub-Saharan Africa to Christianity can be understood."

The Annihilation of Distance: "It is indeed one of the richer ironies of the Victorian value-system that the same navy that was deployed to abolish slave trade was also active in expanding the narcotics trade."

The Annihilation of Distance: "From 1879, the date of the second British attempt to invade and control Afghanistan, until the third attempt in 1919, Britain and Russia conducted the world's first Cold War along the North-West Frontier. But the spies in this Cold War were surveyors, for whoever mapped the frontier first stood a good chance of controlling it."

Cape to Cairo: "Within twenty short years after 1880... ten thousand African tribal kingdoms were transformed into just forty states, of which thirty-six were under direct European control. Never in human history had there been such drastic redrawing of the map of a continent."

Cape to Cairo: "Across Africa the story repeated itself: chiefs hoodwinked, tribes dispossessed, inheritances signed away with a thumbprint or a shaky cross and any resistance mown down by the Maxim gun. One by one the nations of Africa were subjugated... By the beginning of the new century [i.e. the 20th century], the carve-up was complete."

Greater Britain; "Around two and a half million British nationals emigrated to the Empire between 1900 and 1914, three-quarters of them to Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In most cases, emigration substantially increased their incomes and reduced their tax burdens."

Weltkrieg: "In the autumn of 1914, around a third of British forces in France were from India; by the end of the war more than a million Indians had served overseas, almost as many as came from the four white Dominions put together."

Weltkrieg: "... the Indians were not reluctant conscripts [to fight for the British in the first world war]; they were in fact all volunteers, and enthusiastic volunteers at that."

The Transfer of Power: "Once the British had made up their minds to get out [from their various colonies], they aimed to catch the first boat home, regardless of the consequences in their former colonies."

The Transfer of Power: "In the end, the British sacrificed her Empire to stop the Germans, Japanese and Italians from keeping theirs. Did not that sacrifice alone expunge all the Empire's other sins?"

4-day trip to West Sussex and Isle of Wight in the south of England

I had a super pleasurable four-day trip down to the south of England with family last week. We were a group of eight and travelled in two cars from London.

Below is the itinerary of our trip which includes Ordnance Survey grid references for places which we stopped at. If you need a reminder of how to read Ordnance Survey grid references, check out this article or this video. Pro tip: you can plug an Ordnance Survey grid reference into the UK Grid Reference Finder web app and link out from there to Google Maps or Ordnance Survey.

Itinerary

Day 1 morning: We loaded up our cars and started our journey southwards.

Day 1 early afternoon: We stopped at Kithurst Hill Car Park in the South Downs (TQ 071 125) and did a short walk eastwards to Kithurst Hill (TQ 082 125), then southwards to join the South Downs Way (TQ 082 123), and then north-westwards along the South Downs Way back to our car.

Day 1 late afternoon: We stopped at Pulborough Bridge (TQ 045 185) and did some canoeing and kayaking for an hour along River Arun. We hired our canoes and kayaks via Fluid Adventures. Be sure to book beforehand.

Day 1 evening: We drove to our accommodation in Bersted which is just a touch northwards from the coastal town of Bognor Regis and we rested for the night. We booked our accommodation via Airbnb.

Day 2 morning: We had a slow, relaxed morning knowing that we'd have to get up early for the next two mornings.

Day 2 early afternoon: We drove down to Climping Car Park (TQ 005 007) and walked westwards along the coast. The route was a nice mixture of beach to our left and fields to our right.

Day 2 late afternoon: We drove westwards to West Wittering Beach Car Park (SZ 769 982). Lucky for us the weather was cloudy and forecasted to rain so the beach was nice and quiet. Note that the car park is pre-book only.

Day 2 evening: We drove back to our accommodation and rested for the night.

Day 3 early morning: We got up early, headed for Portsmouth and caught our 9:40am ferry to the Isle of Wight. We booked our ferry via Wightlink and it was around £40 each way per car.

Day 3 late morning: We exited the ferry at Fishbourne and drove to a couple of viewpoints on the Isle of Wight's eastern coast. We stopped first at Bembridge Down Car Park (SZ 626 860) and second at Culver Down Car Park (SZ 636 856).

Day 3 early afternoon: We drive clockwise along the coast to Shanklin where we stopped for some scones and tea at the Old Thatch Teashop. Note that you have to call in and book beforehand.

Day 3 late afternoon: We continued our drive clockwise along the coast up to The Needles Car Park (SZ 307 854) from where we walked the stairs down to the beach. We sat by the beach for a while and then caught the chair lift back up to the top. The chair lift costs £4 per person each way.

Day 3 evening: We got back to our cars and drove straight through to Fishbourne just in time to check in for our 6:40pm return ferry. We exited the ferry at Portsmouth, picked up some food from Umami Street Food and returned to our accommodation.

Day 4 morning: We tidied up and checked out from our accommodation.

Day 4 early afternoon: We drove to Brighton and stayed put in and around Brighton Palace Pier. Again, it was a cloudy day and forecasted to rain, so we got to enjoy the beach in relative quiet. Note that Pay & Display parking in Brighton is super expensive so you're best booking a parking slot beforehand on JustPark or using one of the car parks listed on the Brighton & Hove Cark Parks web page.

Day 4 late afternoon: We drove back to London.

Book Review: The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg

This was a decent read. The author does a fine job of intertwining stories and theory. The key takeaways for me were the definition of "habit" and the concept of a "habit loop". A habit is defined as "the choices that all of us deliberately make at some point, and then stop thinking about but continue doing, often every day." A habit loop, on the other hand, is defined as consisting of cues, cravings, routines and rewards: a cue creates a craving and triggers a routine which leads to a reward, which ties back to the cue.

The author argues that once a habit loop is formed, it's difficult to change the cues and rewards that drive our cravings and it's easier instead to focus on changing our routines within the habit loop. The author further argues that long-term change is only truly possible with belief and belief is a whole lot of easier to obtain with the help of a group or community. Alcoholics Anonymous was cited as an example of these points.

As well as the methods of Alcoholics Anonymous, the standout examples from the book for me were those of how marketers use this knowledge of cues and rewards to create cravings within us. There was the example of Pepsodent toothpaste advertisements which target the craving for that cool, tingling sensation in our mouths after brushing above and beyond the craving for clean teeth. There was the example of Febreze spray advertisements which target the craving to make everything smell as nice as it looks above and beyond the craving to hide bad smells. Lastly, there was the example of Cinnabon and how their stores are located away from other food stores so that the smell of cinnamon rolls reach us early and so that the craving for one is ignited well before we see the store.

Below are some quotes from the book.

"When a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in decision making. It stops working so hard, or diverts focus to other tasks." 

"... habits emerge without our permission... families don't usually intend to eat fast food on a regular basis. What happens is that a once a month pattern slowly becomes once a week, and then twice a week... until the kids are consuming an unhealthy amount of hamburgers and fries." 

"Every McDonald's... looks the same – the company deliberately tries to standardise stores' architecture and what employees say to customers, so everything is a consistent cue to trigger eating routines." 

"Studies of people who have successfully started new exercise routines... show they are more likely to stick with a workout plan if they choose a specific cue, such as running as soon as they get home from work, and a clear reward, such as beer or an evening of guilt-free television." 

"... habits are so powerful [because they] create neurological cravings. Most of the time, these cravings emerge so gradually that we're not really aware they exist, so we're often blind to their influence. But as we associate cues with certain rewards, a subconscious craving emerges in our brains that starts the habit loop spinning." 

"... to overpower the habit, we must recognise which craving is driving the behaviour." 

"... a cue and a reward, on their own, aren't enough for a new habit to last. Only when your brain starts expecting the reward – craving the endorphins or sense of accomplishment – will it become automatic to lace up your jogging shoes each morning. The cue, in addition to triggering a routine, must also trigger a craving for the reward to come." 

"Claude Hopkins [the main behind the Pepsodent toothpaste commercials in the early 1900s] wasn't selling beautiful teeth. He was selling a sensation. Once people craved that cool tingling [in their mouths] – once they equated it with cleanliness – brushing became a habit." 

"Shampoo doesn't have to foam, but we add foaming chemicals because people expect it each time they wash their hair. Same thing with laundry detergent. And toothpaste... There's no cleaning benefit, but people feel better when there's a bunch of suds around their mouth." 

"Cravings are what drive habits. And figuring out how to spark a craving makes creating a new habit easier." 

"... you can never truly extinguish bad habits. Rather, to change a habit, you must keep the old cue, and deliver the old reward, but insert a new routine. That's the rule: If you use the same cue, and provide the same reward, you can shift the routine and change the habit. Almost any behaviour can be transformed if the cue and reward stay the same." 

"In order to offer alcoholics the same rewards they get at a bar, Alcoholics Anonymous has built a system of meetings and companionship – the 'sponsor' each member works with – that strives to offer as much escape, distraction and catharsis as a Friday night bender. If someone needs relief, they can get it from talking to their sponsor or attending a group gathering, rather than toasting a drinking buddy." 

"Often, we don't really understand the cravings driving our behaviours until we look for them." 

"If you identify the cues and rewards, you can change the routine. At least, most of the time. For some habits, however, there's one other ingredient that's necessary: belief." 

"... for habits to permanently change, people must believe that change is feasible." 

"Belief is easier when it occurs within a community." 

"... a habit cannot be eradicated – it must, instead, be replaced." 

"... habits are most malleable when the Golden Rule of habit change is applied: If we keep the same cue and the same reward, a new routine can be inserted... For a habit to stay changed, people must believe change is possible. And most often, that belief only emerges with the help of a group." 

"If you want to change a habit, you must find an alternative routine, and your odds of success go up dramatically when you commit to changing as part of a group." 

"When people start habitually exercising, even as infrequently as once a week, they start changing other, unrelated patterns in their lives, often unknowingly. Typically, people who exercise start eating better and becoming more productive at work. They smoke less and show more patience with colleagues and family. They use their credit cards less frequently and say they feel less stressed. It's not completely clear why. But for many people, exercise is a keystone habit that triggers widespread change." 

"... willpower is the single most important keystone habit for individual success." 

"Self-discipline has a bigger effect on academic performance than does intellectual talent... If you knew how to avoid the temptation of a marshmallow as a preschooler, it seemed, you also knew how to get yourself to class on time and finish your homework once you got older, as well as how to make friends and resist peer pressure." 

"... once you understand that habits can change, you have the freedom – and the responsibility – to remake them. Once you understand that habits can be rebuilt, the power of habit becomes easier to grasp, and the only option left is to get to work."