Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire

"Legacy of Violence is probably the most academic book on the shortlist, but we all felt it was an extraordinary achievement, taking a massive subject and honing it. It’s a model of long-term research. It’s an incredibly topical subject, and often a very controversial one for people, too. It was impossible to ignore this book, in terms of not only the canvas, but also the adroitness with which she’s brought all her research together and presented it. It’s tremendous. One thing that this and all the books on the shortlist have in common is that they are stories on a human scale. They help us understand world events or people’s lives through individual human stories. So although this is quite a daunting book, potentially, for people to confront, it is very readable and its thesis is absolutely compelling. I don’t think it’s much of a surprise to hear that the legacy of colonialism was often one of violence. It’s about the systematic nature of that violence. Very often you hear people argue, ‘Well yes, there was violence here and there, but it wasn’t a deliberate policy.’ This book very convincingly shows that this was state-sponsored violence that happened across the board. That is something we need to know and we need to grapple with."