Farewell the Trumpets

This book is one of the best on the late Victorian Empire that I have read, including The Last Lion, a book I have a guilty affection for. The blend of wry humor about a very serious empire and the knowing respect for true heroes is winning. The knowledge of details is wonderful. When I read it over......more

Did you know Hawaii was British for five months in the 1843? Britain took over other countries either for profit or to “deny commercial rivals undue advantages.” For the Church of England, “the British were some sort of chosen people.” Jan says, “There were few in 1897 to question the morality of th......more

Majestic. Now that i've finished the entire trilogy all i can think of to say about it is that one word: Majestic. But i better put in few more words to make this review worth reading. This third volume is focused on the declining years of the Empire. The dismal fizzling-out of a once great thing. T......more

Morris does it again. A great way to end the trilogy on the British empire. The author adopts a « snippets » approach once more broaching a variety of subjects from the historical facts, to architecture at the end of the empire or it’s relation to technology. As always Morries keeps a place of honou......more

As the third book in the Pax Britannica trilogy describing the rise, climax, and decline of the British Empire, this volume inevitably strikes a different note from the previous two. In structure it resembles the first volume, in the sense that it's essentially a chronological narrative, rather than......more