Stolen History: The truth about the British Empire and how it shaped us

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Stolen History talks about the British Empire but in easy-to-understand language. Difficult terms are explained and there are plenty of child-friendly analogies and illustrations. It discusses all the ways that you can still see aspects of this institution in the ways we speak, act and think. One of the most underwritten parts of history is the colonisation of Asia, and its legacy. Lust, Caution, the 1979 novella by Eileen Chang, about a group of Chinese students who plot to assassinate a wartime collaborator of the invading Japanese during the second world war, shows us this moment in history, and the terrible grey areas that emerge in these times. Understanding this history is important – it’s the only way we learn how not to repeat it. But the book is also a masterclass in writing the duality of human beings. To me, changing the world starts with knowing the world. Lust, Caution taught me a little bit more about the world, and about people. In Little Badman and the Rise of the Punjabi Zombies, caretaker Mr Kapoor mentions the Partition that took place in India in 1947. Here, we’ve shared the afterword from the book, which provides a more detailed overview of the historic event, written by Swapna Haddow. He has won numerous prizes for his journalism, including Article of the Year in the 2005 Management Today Writing Awards, Newspaper Feature of the Year in the 2005 Workworld Media Awards, HR Journalist of the Year in the 2006 and 2009 Watson Wyatt Awards for Excellence and the accolade of Young Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards in 2002. LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives.

Stolen History - Penguin Books UK Stolen History - Penguin Books UK

Lucid but never simplistic; entertaining but never frivolous; intensely readable while always mindful of nuance and complexity – Empireland takes a perfectly-judged approach to its contentious but necessary subject.” You’ve probably heard the word ’empire’ before. Perhaps because of the Roman empire. Or maybe even the Star Wars films. It will explore how Britain's empire once made it the most powerful nation on earth, and how it still affects our lives in many ways today - from the words we use, to the food we eat, the sports we play and even to every grown-up's fixation with a good cup of tea. Because how can we ever make the world a kinder, better place for the future, if we don't know the truth about the past?"I've resisted suggestions that I write a kids' book on empire on the grounds that I didn't want to sanitise the history. O'Hara, Mary (19 August 2009). "Interview: Sathnam Sanghera, author of a candid memoir about mental illness". The Guardian . Retrieved 5 November 2017.Honorary Doctor of Letters for services to journalism, University of Wolverhampton, September 2009. [3] You've probably heard the word 'empire' before. Perhaps because of the Roman empire. Or maybe even the Star Wars films. If, in the past, much of the thinking about empire was blinkered and jingoistic, these days it is often lacerating. British imperialism is identified as the source not only of militarism and hooliganism, but of the irresponsibility of high finance and much besides. In contrast to such polemics, Sathnam Sanghera’s new book is nuanced, intelligent and even entertaining. It is also refreshingly honest… As well as chronicling the familiar sins of empire, particularly in India, the author gives a fair hearing to those who emphasise the more positive aspects of imperial rule… [an] excellent book.” But one of the best things was how the book was taken up by teachers and young people, helped by PRH’s donation of 15,000 copies to schools in the UK.“I spoke at The Camden School for Girls and the questions were next level,” he says. “They knew so much. I didn’t really know the British imperial history in Iraq but someone told me that the British had a mandate that caused a lot of problems. With adults it feels like I’m lecturing them, whereas with younger people I’m learning a lot from them.”

Stolen History by Sathnam Sanghera (Penguin) Stolen History by Sathnam Sanghera (Penguin)

Becoming at ease with this history is essential to Britain becoming a saner country." - Sathnam SangheraSUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE WEEK S athnam Sanghera presents penetrating glimpses of the rarely perceived obvious about Britain’s history & modern multicultural reality. As uncomfortable as it is enlightening. And a lot for Australians to reflect on too.” I'm really excited that kids might soon have access to knowledge about the British Empire that I only stumbled across at the age of 45. In an educational sense I love the case studies throughout. They aren’t too overwhelming and constantly link to the issue at hand (Wembley Stadium and it’s Empire exhibition in 1925). Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera (Viking) is an important book and that’s not a phrase to use lightly. It’s an exposé and a reminder of how conveniently the British have rewritten the past and buried the bones of their shame. The bones are, of course, still poking through the soil – dangerous, stinking, tripping us up – and many of us live today with the legacy of slavery and empire. Empireland is a necessary, uncomfortable and illuminating read.”What’s more, ending slavery didn’t stop the gigantic system of trade and exploitation it had spawned. On the contrary, it was meant to enhance it. The British government paid out colossal sums to compensate slaveowners – but nothing to enslaved people themselves. Instead, the law abolishing slavery forced them to continue to labour for years on their existing plantations, as unpaid “apprentices”. Categorising Sanghera’s book simply as history feels like a massive undersell. It’s also memoir, journalism, commentary on how we live now by examining how we lived then, and a book that achieves the crucial distinction of being important without being inaccessible. As a columnist at The Times , a memoirist, and a popular tweeter, Sanghera has had plenty of experience of reader blindness over Britain’s non-white citizens, and their populist distaste for America and its racist history, despite the British Empire being “one of the biggest white supremacist enterprises in the history of humanity”. One could only wish that more people read this utterly engaging book, not just to better understand our country’s history, but to finally put to bed that awful question, “Where are you from really ?”Rating: 10/10′ This book has equipped me with facts about Britain’s past and my family’s past.... Read Full Review I've resisted suggestions that I write a kids' book on empire on the grounds that I didn't want to sanitise the history. But I think I've found a tone that allows me to be both honest and entertaining. I'm really excited that kids might soon have access to knowledge about the British Empire that I only stumbled across at the age of 45. Becoming at ease with this history is essential to Britain becoming a saner country." - Sathnam Sanghera