Volume II of the Pax Britannica trilogy
Pax Britannica: The Climax of an Empire is the second instalment of the Pax Britannica trilogy by Jan Morris. It captures the British nation at the very height of its vigour and self-satisfaction, imposing on the rest of the world its traditions and tastes, its idealists and rascals.
Pax Britannica recreates the British Empire at its dazzling climax – the Diamond Jubilee on Queen Victoria in 1897 was celebrated as a festival of imperial strength, unity, and splendour. This classic work of history portrays the confusion of a nation filled with brilliance and splendour as well as poverty and squalor.
The trilogy also includes Heaven’s Command: An Imperial Progress and Farewell the Trumpets: An Imperial Retreat. Together these three works of history trace the dramatic rise and fall of the British Empire, from the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837 to the death of Winston Churchill in 1965.
‘In scholarship and humour this portrait of the British Empire before its decline and fall might, without undue optimism, be placed upon the same shelf as Edward Gibbon’s history. As a survey of its subject, I doubt that Pax Britannica can ever, in this generation, be surpassed.’ Financial Times
Dominion over Palm and Pine
When people ask me what they should read about the Empire, I suggest they go to the five volumes of the Oxford History of the British Empire, where they will find a mass of recent research...
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