Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World

Name: Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2003-01-09
Cast: Niall Ferguson

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Documentary

How did Britain come to rule the world? asks Niall Ferguson in Empire. What would today's world be like now if it hadn't? Could such an organisation – run by, according to Winston Churchill, 'the greedy trader, the inopportune missionary, the ambitious soldier and the lying spectator' – ever have been a force for good?

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Details

StatusEnded

First AiredJanuary 9, 2003

Last AiredFebruary 13, 2003

Episode Runtime50dk

Seasons1

Episodes6

TypeScripted

Origin CountryUnited Kingdom

Original LanguageEnglish

Spoken LanguagesEnglish

Production Companies

Networks

Last Episode

S1 E6 • 2/13/2003

Empire for Sale

The fall of the British empire is usually attributed to Nationalist groups fighting for independence, yet as Niall Ferguson argues in this final programme of the series, it was really due to the crippling cost of running the empire and financing the two World Wars. He reflects on the achievements and problems of the empire and concludes that in its twilight years Britain did more good than harm in fighting two far worse empires, namely Japan and Germany. Visiting some of the hot spots of the two World Wars and of the campaigns for independence that followed, such as Gallipoli, Istanbul, Suez, Amritsar and Singapore, presenter Niall Ferguson gives us a vivid picture of an empire on its last legs.