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Ten Cities that Made an Empire
An original history of the most enduring colonial creation, the city, explored through ten portraits of powerful urban centers the British Empire left in its wake
At its peak, the British Empire was an urban civilization of epic proportions, leaving behind a network of cities which now stand as the economic and cultural powerhouses of the twenty-first century. In a series of ten vibrant urban biographies that stretch from the shores of Puritan Boston to Dublin, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Liverpool, and beyond, acclaimed historian Tristram Hunt demonstrates that urbanism is in fact the most lasting of Britain's imperial legacies.
Combining historical scholarship, cultural criticism, and personal reportage, Hunt offers a new history of empire, excavated from architecture and infrastructure, from housing and hospitals, sewers and statues, prisons and palaces. Avoiding the binary verdict of empire as "good" or "bad," he traces the collaboration of cultures and traditions that produced these influential urban centers, the work of an army of administrators, officers, entrepreneurs, slaves, and renegades. In these ten cities, Hunt shows, we also see the changing faces of British colonial settlement: a haven for religious dissenters, a lucrative slave-trading post, a center of global hegemony.
Lively, authoritative, and eye-opening, Cities of Empire makes a crucial new contribution to the history of colonialism.
At its peak, the British Empire was an urban civilization of epic proportions, leaving behind a network of cities which now stand as the economic and cultural powerhouses of the twenty-first century. In a series of ten vibrant urban biographies that stretch from the shores of Puritan Boston to Dublin, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Liverpool, and beyond, acclaimed historian Tristram Hunt demonstrates that urbanism is in fact the most lasting of Britain's imperial legacies.
Combining historical scholarship, cultural criticism, and personal reportage, Hunt offers a new history of empire, excavated from architecture and infrastructure, from housing and hospitals, sewers and statues, prisons and palaces. Avoiding the binary verdict of empire as "good" or "bad," he traces the collaboration of cultures and traditions that produced these influential urban centers, the work of an army of administrators, officers, entrepreneurs, slaves, and renegades. In these ten cities, Hunt shows, we also see the changing faces of British colonial settlement: a haven for religious dissenters, a lucrative slave-trading post, a center of global hegemony.
Lively, authoritative, and eye-opening, Cities of Empire makes a crucial new contribution to the history of colonialism.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published June 5, 2014
72 people are currently reading
1152 people want to read
About the author
Tristram Hunt
32 books54 followersTristram Hunt is the author of Marx’s General: The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels and Building Jerusalem: The Rise and Fall of the Victorian City. One of Britain’s leading young historians, he writes regularly for The Guardian, The Observer, and The Times, and has broadcast numerous series for the BBC. A lecturer in history at the University of London, Hunt represents Stoke-on-Trent in the British Parliament, where he serves as the education spokesman for the Labour Party.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
October 12, 2024
I like the basic idea of picking a theme and following it around the world. And Hunt does that quite well with his theme of 10 major British empire cities and how they’ve changed. For my taste it’s a bit heavy on architecture and city planning, but it offers great discussions on the shifting world views expressed in stone or rhetoric. Hunt aims to show that Britain gave birth to the modern global trading city, and this is an enduring contribution to our planetary urbanized world. His book seems to meet a need for silver linings as the empire fades from relevance.
Of the 10 cities Hunt explores, I’ve been to 3, namely Bombay (Mumbai), New Delhi, and Hong Kong, and in each case his account evokes waves of nostalgia. Maybe the whole book is mainly British nostalgia, except Hunt closes by looking at the new equalization of trade flows, as Indian or Chinese investment helps revive old cities of empire like Liverpool.
Of the 10 cities Hunt explores, I’ve been to 3, namely Bombay (Mumbai), New Delhi, and Hong Kong, and in each case his account evokes waves of nostalgia. Maybe the whole book is mainly British nostalgia, except Hunt closes by looking at the new equalization of trade flows, as Indian or Chinese investment helps revive old cities of empire like Liverpool.
June 1, 2016
It appears that this book has taken me exactly five months to read. Not because it's difficult, or complex, or dull, but I just have trouble with non-fic, especially history. I tend to read a chunk, put it down, meaning to pick it up again the next day and get distracted by a graphic novel or space opera. Still, I'm very glad that I did eventually get through this book, which uses ten cities to provide a breakneck tour of the history of the British Empire, from its first phase in the Americas through its turn towards the east, and right down to its end and the impact on Britain itself.
It's an odd mix, but the architecture of the cities is only ever there in the background and never as important as you think it's going to be, but still, weaving together the history of the cities with the wider context of Empire is fascinating. I wasn't sure what to expect from Hunt, as he seems to be on the right wing of the Labour Party but his history seems balanced. He talks about how the British Empire alternated between waves of free trade imperialism and more traditional conquering imperialism, but is never flag-waving. He never shies away from the dark underbelly of the Empire, particularly the slavery that formed the basis of the West Indies economy for so long, and the racism that was evident in India (and elsewhere), compared with the 'white colonies'.
My knowledge of the Empire has always been patchy, and this book has helped fill in some of those gaps, particularly the broad brush of its rise and fall across a few hundred years and its actions and behaviour in India. Indeed, the Indian chapters were amongst the most interesting for me, especially the comparison between Calcutta and Bombay (as they were then), with New Delhi being the Empire's last hurrah, despite the triumphalism that went into its building and its architecture.
It's an odd mix, but the architecture of the cities is only ever there in the background and never as important as you think it's going to be, but still, weaving together the history of the cities with the wider context of Empire is fascinating. I wasn't sure what to expect from Hunt, as he seems to be on the right wing of the Labour Party but his history seems balanced. He talks about how the British Empire alternated between waves of free trade imperialism and more traditional conquering imperialism, but is never flag-waving. He never shies away from the dark underbelly of the Empire, particularly the slavery that formed the basis of the West Indies economy for so long, and the racism that was evident in India (and elsewhere), compared with the 'white colonies'.
My knowledge of the Empire has always been patchy, and this book has helped fill in some of those gaps, particularly the broad brush of its rise and fall across a few hundred years and its actions and behaviour in India. Indeed, the Indian chapters were amongst the most interesting for me, especially the comparison between Calcutta and Bombay (as they were then), with New Delhi being the Empire's last hurrah, despite the triumphalism that went into its building and its architecture.
February 4, 2015
The sun never sets…
Tristram Hunt, historian and Member of (the British) Parliament, has chosen an innovative way to look at the history and legacy of the British Empire by considering ten of the cities that played important roles in the two centuries when the Empire was at its height. There can be a tendency to think that the Empire came into being at some defined point, existed for a while, and then ceased. Hunt’s city tour gives a much clearer picture of how the Empire was always evolving, always changing, as global events raised and lowered the importance of products and markets – and he makes it very clear that the Empire’s primary purpose was indeed economic rather than political, at least initially. Hunt admits that there were many other cities with as good a claim to be included as the ones he chose, but his purpose is to show how the Empire shifted geographically and politically over time and his choices work well for this purpose.
Starting with Boston, Hunt sets the pattern he subsequently follows with each city. He gives the reasons for the city’s founding (or colonisation if it already existed), explains its importance to the development of the Empire, describes the culture of the society and discusses how the city developed physically in terms of its architecture and industrial or trading infrastructure.
The book is not immensely long, so each city only gets around forty pages. This is long enough to give a reasonable overview of the city’s place within the Empire, but clearly Hunt has had to set himself some limitations to keep the length down. The major limitation for me was that he only told us about each city at the point that it was at its height in terms of Empire. As the Empire rolled on and away, we aren’t given much feel for what happened to the cities afterwards. This is truer of the early cities more than the late ones – Boston is more or less dropped at the point of Independence while the current political situation of Hong Kong is briefly discussed. At first, I found this abrupt departure from each city very disconcerting, but as the book went on it became clear that Hunt was portraying the Empire like a wave or perhaps a bandwagon that rolled into town, changed everything, and then rolled on. I found that in the end it did give me a much clearer picture of how all the various geographic bits fitted in at different points in history.
So from America, Hunt takes us to the West Indies, stops off in Dublin, and then heads east – to Africa, China and, of course, India. India’s importance to the Empire is indicated by the fact that three of its cities are covered – Calcutta, Bombay and New Delhi, showing how the Empire in India developed from an initial trading zone to the full scale colonial undertaking it eventually became before gaining independence. Hunt balances the book well between the colonies and the Dominions, showing how the Dominions were seen as a means of disseminating British values and of building an interconnected anglicised world that would come to the support of the mother-country in times of need (as indeed they did in both WW1 and WW2). He finishes off with a look at Liverpool, the only British city to merit a chapter, showing its importance as a trading hub under the Empire and discussing the economically devastating effects, still being dealt with today, of the end of Empire.
While I was glad that the book was kept down to a reasonable length, I’d have liked to learn more about what happened to the cities post-Empire, and I’d have been happy to sacrifice some of the architectural detail to make way for that. However, I think that’s probably more a matter of personal preference than a criticism. All-in-all, I found this an interesting and well written read that took an innovative approach to telling the much-told story of the Empire, and recommend it to anyone interested in knowing more about how the Empire worked. I read an advance copy of the book, so can’t comment on the illustrations, but I believe there are over forty colour plates plus maps in the final copy, which I imagine would greatly enhance the enjoyment of the book.
The Ten Cities are: Boston, Bridgetown, Dublin, Cape Town, Calcutta, Hong Kong, Bombay, Melbourne, New Delhi, Liverpool.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Penguin Books (UK).
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
After sporting pastimes and the English language (to which might be added Anglicism, the parliamentary system and Common Law), Jan Morris has described urbanism as ‘the most lasting of the British imperial legacies’.
Tristram Hunt, historian and Member of (the British) Parliament, has chosen an innovative way to look at the history and legacy of the British Empire by considering ten of the cities that played important roles in the two centuries when the Empire was at its height. There can be a tendency to think that the Empire came into being at some defined point, existed for a while, and then ceased. Hunt’s city tour gives a much clearer picture of how the Empire was always evolving, always changing, as global events raised and lowered the importance of products and markets – and he makes it very clear that the Empire’s primary purpose was indeed economic rather than political, at least initially. Hunt admits that there were many other cities with as good a claim to be included as the ones he chose, but his purpose is to show how the Empire shifted geographically and politically over time and his choices work well for this purpose.
Starting with Boston, Hunt sets the pattern he subsequently follows with each city. He gives the reasons for the city’s founding (or colonisation if it already existed), explains its importance to the development of the Empire, describes the culture of the society and discusses how the city developed physically in terms of its architecture and industrial or trading infrastructure.
The book is not immensely long, so each city only gets around forty pages. This is long enough to give a reasonable overview of the city’s place within the Empire, but clearly Hunt has had to set himself some limitations to keep the length down. The major limitation for me was that he only told us about each city at the point that it was at its height in terms of Empire. As the Empire rolled on and away, we aren’t given much feel for what happened to the cities afterwards. This is truer of the early cities more than the late ones – Boston is more or less dropped at the point of Independence while the current political situation of Hong Kong is briefly discussed. At first, I found this abrupt departure from each city very disconcerting, but as the book went on it became clear that Hunt was portraying the Empire like a wave or perhaps a bandwagon that rolled into town, changed everything, and then rolled on. I found that in the end it did give me a much clearer picture of how all the various geographic bits fitted in at different points in history.
So from America, Hunt takes us to the West Indies, stops off in Dublin, and then heads east – to Africa, China and, of course, India. India’s importance to the Empire is indicated by the fact that three of its cities are covered – Calcutta, Bombay and New Delhi, showing how the Empire in India developed from an initial trading zone to the full scale colonial undertaking it eventually became before gaining independence. Hunt balances the book well between the colonies and the Dominions, showing how the Dominions were seen as a means of disseminating British values and of building an interconnected anglicised world that would come to the support of the mother-country in times of need (as indeed they did in both WW1 and WW2). He finishes off with a look at Liverpool, the only British city to merit a chapter, showing its importance as a trading hub under the Empire and discussing the economically devastating effects, still being dealt with today, of the end of Empire.
While I was glad that the book was kept down to a reasonable length, I’d have liked to learn more about what happened to the cities post-Empire, and I’d have been happy to sacrifice some of the architectural detail to make way for that. However, I think that’s probably more a matter of personal preference than a criticism. All-in-all, I found this an interesting and well written read that took an innovative approach to telling the much-told story of the Empire, and recommend it to anyone interested in knowing more about how the Empire worked. I read an advance copy of the book, so can’t comment on the illustrations, but I believe there are over forty colour plates plus maps in the final copy, which I imagine would greatly enhance the enjoyment of the book.
The Ten Cities are: Boston, Bridgetown, Dublin, Cape Town, Calcutta, Hong Kong, Bombay, Melbourne, New Delhi, Liverpool.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Penguin Books (UK).
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
June 25, 2021
This is a book about the British Empire from the perspective of 10 cities of the world. A colonial past whose morality is in question. Some see the glory and achievement while dismissing the hardships created. Others see only the adversities without seeing the social and physical infrastructure that was built. This is a history showcasing the complexity of the situation rather than just a simple version of ruler and ruled. With all the contradictions and vicissitudes of political philosophies and morals. Colonization was a pursuit to extract wealth from foreign lands, but it would not be prosperous with also developing the infrastructure. A complex process that shaped and reshaped culture and economy.
The book is generally well written, but sometimes has poor flow. The benefit of this book is to show world regions impacted by the British Empire that the reader can become interested in. To understand the role of the British Empire in any given city would require supplementary readings. Therein lies the problem with the book, the missing information. The author sometimes gets lost in describing the architecture of the city or other factors, and neglects the political, economic, and social factors. For some cities there is a plethora of those factors, but for others cities the factors are barely present.
Boston
A fiercely royal city until the revolution. The original English inhabitants were Puritans (Protestant) who wanted to separate themselves from corruption and decay, so fled England and Netherlands. The city was structured as a self-governing commonwealth with a leadership council composed of a network of Puritan merchants and divines. What mattered was not property, but church membership. Intolerance to religious disharmony. As Boston was a trade town, it proved continuously more difficult to maintain Puritan values. It was trade that made Boston have imperial loyalty rather than coercion. For all royal loyalty, they wanted political freedoms based on self-governing assembles.
What started the disputes was British ask of the colonies to pay for their own defense. Resulting in taxes and their repeal. Many claimed to act legally, but were committing illicit trade. The problems precipitated in a Tea Act. Tea shaped what it was to be in the middle-class with all sort of social appliances and applications, but after the taxes, it was seen as a symbol of enslavement and luxury. The Act would also undermine the illicit trade.
Bridgetown
A wild island turned into a well-cultivated market. This city was financed by sugar plantations. Sugar was gathered via slave labor which required a slave market. With the claim that it was the slave market that facilitated the funding of the industrialization process of the British Empire. Even with the dominance relations, slaves were able to become free and become very wealthy. The problems with Bridgetown was the monoculture, which reduced the island’s soil nutrients, leading to becoming uncompetitive with alternative colonies.
Dublin
With the empires political philosophies changing due to the loss of the North American colonies, and increased competition from other colonizers, the British Empire looked to strengthen the internal bonds. To reconsider how they were going to be as colorizers. This is where Ireland played a role. Going from a problem of the empire, to a willing partner of the empire. Because of Dublin’s proximity, it was not an occupied territory. Neither was it allowed to be independent. But dependency on the British caused many religious persecutions and a reduction in the diversity of commerce.
Cape Town
For the occupation of Cape Town, the empire started to focus on commerce. Commerce was acceptable until the violation of indigenous property lands. In trying to contrast themselves as better alternatives than other colonizers, the empire started to distance itself from slavery. Promoting a policy of paternalistic benevolence.
Calcutta
To obtain its wants, the empire made contracts with the Mudgal princes. But shortly after started to break them. Land ownership was reformed, giving permanence to the owners, which raised the price of land, but also reduced the willingness to trade. It was more profitable to be a landlord than a trader. Initially tolerant of multicultural attitudes, but then turned into an ideological imperial righteousness that contained a racial hierarchy. Trade from Bengal was competed away by industrialization elsewhere, forcing India to import finished goods.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong was meant to be a staging area for a broader entrance into China. At this point the empire was determined to encourage trade everywhere, even if other did not want it. In this case, determined to open up China for world trade. For the British, China was at fault for hoarding productive lands from foreigners. Although there were orders not to engage in military conflict, the orders were not observed by the officers. Tensions arose. Chinese officials tried to maintain order and have their laws followed, but the confrontations worked against the Chinese.
The environmental conditions in Hong Kong created conditions for diseases. Killing many people. What kept Hong Kong going was the opium business. But what made Hong Kong profitable was Chinese labor and trade connections. The taxes paid rescued Hong Kong from being financially dependent on opium.
Bombay
From the hygiene and civic problems of Hong Kong came lesson to be used for the planning of Bombay. Bombay was built to represent the empires monument to modernity. Using the modern communications and advancing science to plan the urban environment. Bombay was a multicultural city, but was mired in the dichotomy of ruler ad ruled. Its core trade was cotton.
Melbourne
Melbourne has a legacy of Aboriginal genocide. Gold fields marked its prosperity, while the game of cricket market the test for character. A game that allowed the colonized to take social retribution against the colonizers.
New Delhi
Old Delhi was razed to make New Delhi. New Delhi was recognized as providing much wealth to the empire. Its loss would inevitably mean the unsustainability of the empire. To maintain the grip on New Delhi, the British sought to eliminate civil disobedience by detentions and arbitrary arrests. The very infrastructure was built with symmetry to reaffirm order on chaos.
Liverpool
This city was mismanaged by political division which prevented potential investments into the city. Unemployment and other social factors contributed to the downfall of this colony.
The book is generally well written, but sometimes has poor flow. The benefit of this book is to show world regions impacted by the British Empire that the reader can become interested in. To understand the role of the British Empire in any given city would require supplementary readings. Therein lies the problem with the book, the missing information. The author sometimes gets lost in describing the architecture of the city or other factors, and neglects the political, economic, and social factors. For some cities there is a plethora of those factors, but for others cities the factors are barely present.
Boston
A fiercely royal city until the revolution. The original English inhabitants were Puritans (Protestant) who wanted to separate themselves from corruption and decay, so fled England and Netherlands. The city was structured as a self-governing commonwealth with a leadership council composed of a network of Puritan merchants and divines. What mattered was not property, but church membership. Intolerance to religious disharmony. As Boston was a trade town, it proved continuously more difficult to maintain Puritan values. It was trade that made Boston have imperial loyalty rather than coercion. For all royal loyalty, they wanted political freedoms based on self-governing assembles.
What started the disputes was British ask of the colonies to pay for their own defense. Resulting in taxes and their repeal. Many claimed to act legally, but were committing illicit trade. The problems precipitated in a Tea Act. Tea shaped what it was to be in the middle-class with all sort of social appliances and applications, but after the taxes, it was seen as a symbol of enslavement and luxury. The Act would also undermine the illicit trade.
Bridgetown
A wild island turned into a well-cultivated market. This city was financed by sugar plantations. Sugar was gathered via slave labor which required a slave market. With the claim that it was the slave market that facilitated the funding of the industrialization process of the British Empire. Even with the dominance relations, slaves were able to become free and become very wealthy. The problems with Bridgetown was the monoculture, which reduced the island’s soil nutrients, leading to becoming uncompetitive with alternative colonies.
Dublin
With the empires political philosophies changing due to the loss of the North American colonies, and increased competition from other colonizers, the British Empire looked to strengthen the internal bonds. To reconsider how they were going to be as colorizers. This is where Ireland played a role. Going from a problem of the empire, to a willing partner of the empire. Because of Dublin’s proximity, it was not an occupied territory. Neither was it allowed to be independent. But dependency on the British caused many religious persecutions and a reduction in the diversity of commerce.
Cape Town
For the occupation of Cape Town, the empire started to focus on commerce. Commerce was acceptable until the violation of indigenous property lands. In trying to contrast themselves as better alternatives than other colonizers, the empire started to distance itself from slavery. Promoting a policy of paternalistic benevolence.
Calcutta
To obtain its wants, the empire made contracts with the Mudgal princes. But shortly after started to break them. Land ownership was reformed, giving permanence to the owners, which raised the price of land, but also reduced the willingness to trade. It was more profitable to be a landlord than a trader. Initially tolerant of multicultural attitudes, but then turned into an ideological imperial righteousness that contained a racial hierarchy. Trade from Bengal was competed away by industrialization elsewhere, forcing India to import finished goods.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong was meant to be a staging area for a broader entrance into China. At this point the empire was determined to encourage trade everywhere, even if other did not want it. In this case, determined to open up China for world trade. For the British, China was at fault for hoarding productive lands from foreigners. Although there were orders not to engage in military conflict, the orders were not observed by the officers. Tensions arose. Chinese officials tried to maintain order and have their laws followed, but the confrontations worked against the Chinese.
The environmental conditions in Hong Kong created conditions for diseases. Killing many people. What kept Hong Kong going was the opium business. But what made Hong Kong profitable was Chinese labor and trade connections. The taxes paid rescued Hong Kong from being financially dependent on opium.
Bombay
From the hygiene and civic problems of Hong Kong came lesson to be used for the planning of Bombay. Bombay was built to represent the empires monument to modernity. Using the modern communications and advancing science to plan the urban environment. Bombay was a multicultural city, but was mired in the dichotomy of ruler ad ruled. Its core trade was cotton.
Melbourne
Melbourne has a legacy of Aboriginal genocide. Gold fields marked its prosperity, while the game of cricket market the test for character. A game that allowed the colonized to take social retribution against the colonizers.
New Delhi
Old Delhi was razed to make New Delhi. New Delhi was recognized as providing much wealth to the empire. Its loss would inevitably mean the unsustainability of the empire. To maintain the grip on New Delhi, the British sought to eliminate civil disobedience by detentions and arbitrary arrests. The very infrastructure was built with symmetry to reaffirm order on chaos.
Liverpool
This city was mismanaged by political division which prevented potential investments into the city. Unemployment and other social factors contributed to the downfall of this colony.
September 27, 2025
When I read this in 2019 I thought it was good, interesting and readable but flawed. As another reviewer put it "...the author often tip-toed up to the point where he could engage in a critical discussion of how place was used to construct a psychology of empire...and then diverted into (admittedly quite entertaining) discussions of architecture."
Although not as unthinkingly panegyric as 'Pax Britannica' by Jan Morris it is still one of those books which sees empire purely from the English point of view (there is no point pretending that a 'British' identity outside of Englishness existed back then). Of course this also one of those empire books that seeks the origins of the modern world in the past - which is fine but it is also an attempt to claim a continuing relevance and importance for Britain, in this case as the originator of 'Globalisation'. Of course there has been globalised trade, even as far back as the ancient world and I am afraid that whatever contribution Britain made in the 19th century it has played little real role in creating the post WWII globalisation that is the foundation of our current world.
It concentrates almost exclusively on the British/white ethnic communities and, where he tries to avoid seeing them in places like Boston or Dublin he does so by excluding the natives (American Indians or Catholic Irish) and the amount of space devoted to native people when discussing places like Hong Kong or New Delhi is probably equivalent to the amount attention British colonial authorities gave to spaces/architecture for the native populations. Giving a prime site in New Delhi to the palace of the maharaja of Hyderbad is not what matters.
I kept waiting for a more critical discussion that just never happened. If nothing else it’s an interesting way to learn a bit of urban colonial history, albeit a view of history that is particularly concerned with the colonizers, rather than the lives and spaces of the original inhabitants.
Although not as unthinkingly panegyric as 'Pax Britannica' by Jan Morris it is still one of those books which sees empire purely from the English point of view (there is no point pretending that a 'British' identity outside of Englishness existed back then). Of course this also one of those empire books that seeks the origins of the modern world in the past - which is fine but it is also an attempt to claim a continuing relevance and importance for Britain, in this case as the originator of 'Globalisation'. Of course there has been globalised trade, even as far back as the ancient world and I am afraid that whatever contribution Britain made in the 19th century it has played little real role in creating the post WWII globalisation that is the foundation of our current world.
It concentrates almost exclusively on the British/white ethnic communities and, where he tries to avoid seeing them in places like Boston or Dublin he does so by excluding the natives (American Indians or Catholic Irish) and the amount of space devoted to native people when discussing places like Hong Kong or New Delhi is probably equivalent to the amount attention British colonial authorities gave to spaces/architecture for the native populations. Giving a prime site in New Delhi to the palace of the maharaja of Hyderbad is not what matters.
I kept waiting for a more critical discussion that just never happened. If nothing else it’s an interesting way to learn a bit of urban colonial history, albeit a view of history that is particularly concerned with the colonizers, rather than the lives and spaces of the original inhabitants.
Read
October 19, 2021Sadly, I couldn't understand much of my Chinese translates version, as the names and places were all addressed by their Chinese names...
March 22, 2015
I came across this wonderful volume which had accidentally misplaced among the
"New Releases, Fiction" rack at the library. Snatching it up, I was immediately intrigued. Ten cities of the British Empire are examined as to their individual history, purposes and evolution. The flow of commercial as well as political interests, influences of native populations and politics and the individual personalities who left their imprint on these major urban centers spread across every continent except South America and Antarctica.
There are ample excerpts from historical sources to give a sense of the complexity of opinion concerning these centers of British Imperial influence and how they have shaped the modern world, as well as Britain itself.
I did learn quite a bit from this book, and had to go running to look up quite a few side paths that sparked my interest. For instance, the fact that Cornwallis went on after his defeat at Yorktown to become Governor-General of the East India Company's interests in India, succeeding another famous military man, Arthur Wellseley--Duke of Wellington--the same who had defeated Napoleon at Waterloo and was recalled as Governor-General. If that had not been enough, I was surprised to learn that the son of Edward Bulwer-Lytton (author of such famous works as Paul Cifford and those opening words, "It was a dark and stormy night...", became Viceroy of India (notice how the name of the position had changed).
I thoroughly enjoyed this read, especially when he concluded with a wonderful quote from one of my favorite authors, Joseph Conrad--Empire 'is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much'.
Perhaps there will one day be such a focused examination of American Imperialism--but alas ours will not have cities to mark its passing.
"New Releases, Fiction" rack at the library. Snatching it up, I was immediately intrigued. Ten cities of the British Empire are examined as to their individual history, purposes and evolution. The flow of commercial as well as political interests, influences of native populations and politics and the individual personalities who left their imprint on these major urban centers spread across every continent except South America and Antarctica.
There are ample excerpts from historical sources to give a sense of the complexity of opinion concerning these centers of British Imperial influence and how they have shaped the modern world, as well as Britain itself.
I did learn quite a bit from this book, and had to go running to look up quite a few side paths that sparked my interest. For instance, the fact that Cornwallis went on after his defeat at Yorktown to become Governor-General of the East India Company's interests in India, succeeding another famous military man, Arthur Wellseley--Duke of Wellington--the same who had defeated Napoleon at Waterloo and was recalled as Governor-General. If that had not been enough, I was surprised to learn that the son of Edward Bulwer-Lytton (author of such famous works as Paul Cifford and those opening words, "It was a dark and stormy night...", became Viceroy of India (notice how the name of the position had changed).
I thoroughly enjoyed this read, especially when he concluded with a wonderful quote from one of my favorite authors, Joseph Conrad--Empire 'is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much'.
Perhaps there will one day be such a focused examination of American Imperialism--but alas ours will not have cities to mark its passing.
August 21, 2016
Hunt excels at getting past the usual tropes - from the right or the left of the political spectrum - that surround the British Empire and its key cities by expertly conveying subtleties and complexities that are often ignored or go unacknowledged in standard accounts. As someone on the left this was an excellent read that challenged some of my assumptions and beliefs about the British Empire, while at the same time bringing a degree of realistic detail (not always found in historical texts) that allows the reader to fully grasp the atmosphere of the times and places Hunt discusses. At times Hunt's writing flows so well you forget this is non-fiction, such is the way he tells the story of the British Empire, the impact of these ten cities and their people on that empire, and vice versa. An absolute must-read for anyone interested in British history or the wider history of the world during that period.
March 1, 2016
Great informative entertaining read and I stress entertaining as in he doesn't delve too deeply into each city rather presents a travelogue as such through the prism of the British Empire and how it impacted on the subject matter. I kept thinking as I was reading it that it would make a good BBC Documentary in the vein of Simon Schama, Lucy Worsley as Hunt's style very much suits an informal audience but I must say being familiar with quite a few of the cities I thought he did them justice in terms of a good polaroid. My only criticism as such is he covered three cities in India when two I think would have sufficed at the expense of maybe two prime candidates to segue from Hong Kong (sic) - her fussier sister Singapore or perhaps Vancouver - that said there's no reason for Mr. Hunt not to write "Ten More Cities That Made an Empire " and I'd buy that too.
August 1, 2023
An enjoyable but flawed treatment of British Imperial history through the lens of urban development. While I enjoyed what the author DID discuss, the author often tip-toed up to the point where he could engage in a critical discussion of how place was used to construct a psychology of empire...and then diverted into (admittedly quite entertaining) discussions of architecture. It’s also distinctly focused on the British/white ethnic communities and their experiences of place, even when talking about the spaces/architecture of native populations. I kept waiting for a more critical discussion that just never happened. If nothing else it’s an interesting way to learn a bit of urban colonial history, albeit a view of history that is particularly concerned with the colonizErs, rather than the lives and spaces of the original inhabitants.
November 2, 2015
I found this very enlightening and a fascinating snapshot of the cities during Britain@s Empire building.I found Dublin , Liverpool and Bombay the best and the coverage of each city is variable I suppose depending on their situation and importance .
Being a middle of the road labour MP, Tristram Hunt leans a bit towards anti colonialism but steers an even handed path through a difficult subject . There are nice maps and photos old and new .
It is easy to read and would make a good TV series as long as it isn't presented by Billy Connolly or Stephen Fry .
Being a middle of the road labour MP, Tristram Hunt leans a bit towards anti colonialism but steers an even handed path through a difficult subject . There are nice maps and photos old and new .
It is easy to read and would make a good TV series as long as it isn't presented by Billy Connolly or Stephen Fry .
February 1, 2016
Well written and researched overview of ten cities of the British empire.
I was born in and have spent most of my life in one of these cities and I have spent time in six of the others so it was fascinating to get an insight into how Great Britain expanded its empire into those cities.
Although for me probably the most interesting chapters were the ones about Cape Town and Bridgetown as I previously knew nothing about those two cities.
I was born in and have spent most of my life in one of these cities and I have spent time in six of the others so it was fascinating to get an insight into how Great Britain expanded its empire into those cities.
Although for me probably the most interesting chapters were the ones about Cape Town and Bridgetown as I previously knew nothing about those two cities.
January 15, 2020
Good.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 8, 2025
Hunt’s book views the British Empire through the lives of ten important cities. It is often fascinating, but also (surprisingly) a little dull at times.
April 13, 2016
I received an Advanced Reader's Edition of this book via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
The legacy of the economic and political practices of the growth of the British Empire and the implemented of those practices in colonial cities are at the root of Tristram Hunt’s “Cites of Empire”. Instead of looking at the British Empire as either a good or bad “thing”, Hunt examines how it grew and the impact it has on our world today while not forgetting the motivations of those who implemented the policies in the first place.
Hunt examines 10 cities connected to the spread of Britain’s empire around the world, giving each city its own exclusive chapter. While each city is given its own history, Hunt shows how the British experiences in one city affected their decisions in others he was writing about. The history of a particular city is not the only thing covered with the individuals who impacted it; Hunt gives the reader a wonderful portrait of the cultural, social, and architectural developments along with those who promoted them.
While Hunt’s descriptive writing of the architectural are wonderful, the text would have been enhanced with illustrations of some kind of the building he was describing (thought as I was reading an advanced reader’s edition of the book there might be some in for sale edition). The maps at the opening of each chapter helped to place the buildings and other geographical issues into context if one got confused for any reason. Although Hunt’s insights into the society of the cities he writes about, at times the information he writes feels like a redux of previous cities’ and so slowed my reading as thought back on previous chapters.
Upon finishing “Cities of Empire” I had a better sense of the imperial history of British colonization, a topic in history that I have personally wanting to know more about. Although not perfect, Tristram Hunt’s book gives the reader a history of the British Empire and its legacy in the 21st Century without judging or defending as good or evil. I whole recommend this book to those interested in the spread of British culture around the world.
The legacy of the economic and political practices of the growth of the British Empire and the implemented of those practices in colonial cities are at the root of Tristram Hunt’s “Cites of Empire”. Instead of looking at the British Empire as either a good or bad “thing”, Hunt examines how it grew and the impact it has on our world today while not forgetting the motivations of those who implemented the policies in the first place.
Hunt examines 10 cities connected to the spread of Britain’s empire around the world, giving each city its own exclusive chapter. While each city is given its own history, Hunt shows how the British experiences in one city affected their decisions in others he was writing about. The history of a particular city is not the only thing covered with the individuals who impacted it; Hunt gives the reader a wonderful portrait of the cultural, social, and architectural developments along with those who promoted them.
While Hunt’s descriptive writing of the architectural are wonderful, the text would have been enhanced with illustrations of some kind of the building he was describing (thought as I was reading an advanced reader’s edition of the book there might be some in for sale edition). The maps at the opening of each chapter helped to place the buildings and other geographical issues into context if one got confused for any reason. Although Hunt’s insights into the society of the cities he writes about, at times the information he writes feels like a redux of previous cities’ and so slowed my reading as thought back on previous chapters.
Upon finishing “Cities of Empire” I had a better sense of the imperial history of British colonization, a topic in history that I have personally wanting to know more about. Although not perfect, Tristram Hunt’s book gives the reader a history of the British Empire and its legacy in the 21st Century without judging or defending as good or evil. I whole recommend this book to those interested in the spread of British culture around the world.
November 24, 2014
I received this book compliments of Metropolitan Books through the Goodreads First Reads program.
The British Empire was never a static entity and Tristram Hunt chronicles the major shifts of intent and implementation of colonialism from The Massachusetts Bay Company settling Boston in the mid-Seventeenth Century to the collapse of Liverpool's economy in the late Twentieth. He examines ten cities, each in the time it was of most importance to the politics and economics of Britain. Bridgetown, Barbados doesn't seem overly important today, but in the 1700s it was the center of trade in both slaves and sugar. This not only enriched many in England, it also changed their diet. Hong Kong is so dense in population and business that it seems it must be much more than 175 years old, but Western business still works to reach mainland Chinese consumers just as the British fought to open trade when they moved there. These are the sort of insights the author provides.
As each city came to importance it grew and so did the problems of infrastructure. Sanitation, drainage, roads, public buildings. The advanced reader's copy I read doesn't have the color plates, but the internet provided pictures of some of these buildings and it is fascinating to read the political intent in building the Viceroy's House in New Delhi. The social life of the elite, the racism, the economic disparities are also touched upon and the loyal Britishness of colonists who weren't born there. After the colonies gained independence the cities remained. Even though monuments are torn down, buildings
repurposed or demolished to make room for other buildings the heritage remains also.
This is not a fast read and without a basic knowledge of the history of the period it might sometimes be hard to follow, but it is well researched, well written and very interesting.
The British Empire was never a static entity and Tristram Hunt chronicles the major shifts of intent and implementation of colonialism from The Massachusetts Bay Company settling Boston in the mid-Seventeenth Century to the collapse of Liverpool's economy in the late Twentieth. He examines ten cities, each in the time it was of most importance to the politics and economics of Britain. Bridgetown, Barbados doesn't seem overly important today, but in the 1700s it was the center of trade in both slaves and sugar. This not only enriched many in England, it also changed their diet. Hong Kong is so dense in population and business that it seems it must be much more than 175 years old, but Western business still works to reach mainland Chinese consumers just as the British fought to open trade when they moved there. These are the sort of insights the author provides.
As each city came to importance it grew and so did the problems of infrastructure. Sanitation, drainage, roads, public buildings. The advanced reader's copy I read doesn't have the color plates, but the internet provided pictures of some of these buildings and it is fascinating to read the political intent in building the Viceroy's House in New Delhi. The social life of the elite, the racism, the economic disparities are also touched upon and the loyal Britishness of colonists who weren't born there. After the colonies gained independence the cities remained. Even though monuments are torn down, buildings
repurposed or demolished to make room for other buildings the heritage remains also.
This is not a fast read and without a basic knowledge of the history of the period it might sometimes be hard to follow, but it is well researched, well written and very interesting.
August 25, 2014
An amazing read... An outstanding story of empire through the fabric of 10 cities... Starts with the Boston Tea Party and ends with the national reaction to the Hillsborough disaster - if only they taught history at school like this...
November 2, 2014
Really enjoyed it. Maybe a bit too broad-ranging (or not comprehensive enough) to be any general history of the British empire but a good cross-section underlining the rise and fall of empire and that now it's the turn of China.
January 19, 2018
In this book, we follow the rise and fall of British Empire, seen through ten cities:
Boston: One of the earliest British colonies, which ended up being the hotbed for one of the biggest (and successful) rebellion against British Empire, forcing it to shift its attention anywhere else.
Bridgetown: A place where the British retreated from its thirteen colonies, consolidating its power among the sugar plantations in the Carribean.
Dublin: Mired in bog, and filled with Catholics with rebellious tendecies, the British came to identify Dublin as part of its empire (along with the Anglicization of Irishmen).
Cape Town: the gateway to the Orient, grabbed from the hand of the Dutch, thus the British settlers and traders had to contend living with grumbling Boers.
Calcutta: First only functioned as the base for East India Company’s Indian operation, Calcutta became a place where the British exuded its might, especially militarily.
Hong Kong: A tiny, rocky island which bore witness to the decline of East India Company and the emergence of free trade regime, also featuring the countless number of missionaries and the opium war.
Bombay: A cosmopolitan where the British tried another tack of showcasing its power through the great numbers of civil projects, fuelled by merchant-princes.
Melbourne: The settlers and former convicts spread out and forming a suburban civilisation in the Land Down Under.
New Delhi: A place of Indian imperial past where the British tried to reassert its imperial authority through many touches of triumphalism, also the place where the British Empire began to unravel.
Liverpool: The dock city which prospered under the British Imperialism, the end of it spelt the end of Liverpool’s glory, symbolised with the closing of Tate & Lyle, that great sugar refinery, because of the entrance of United Kingdom to European Economic Community flooded the sugar market with cheaper sugar beets.
All in all, I found the journey quite fascinating, the lesson learnt from this book would be, even the greatest Empire would fall. Despite the aura of permanence, nothing lasts forever, even British Empire.
Boston: One of the earliest British colonies, which ended up being the hotbed for one of the biggest (and successful) rebellion against British Empire, forcing it to shift its attention anywhere else.
Bridgetown: A place where the British retreated from its thirteen colonies, consolidating its power among the sugar plantations in the Carribean.
Dublin: Mired in bog, and filled with Catholics with rebellious tendecies, the British came to identify Dublin as part of its empire (along with the Anglicization of Irishmen).
Cape Town: the gateway to the Orient, grabbed from the hand of the Dutch, thus the British settlers and traders had to contend living with grumbling Boers.
Calcutta: First only functioned as the base for East India Company’s Indian operation, Calcutta became a place where the British exuded its might, especially militarily.
Hong Kong: A tiny, rocky island which bore witness to the decline of East India Company and the emergence of free trade regime, also featuring the countless number of missionaries and the opium war.
Bombay: A cosmopolitan where the British tried another tack of showcasing its power through the great numbers of civil projects, fuelled by merchant-princes.
Melbourne: The settlers and former convicts spread out and forming a suburban civilisation in the Land Down Under.
New Delhi: A place of Indian imperial past where the British tried to reassert its imperial authority through many touches of triumphalism, also the place where the British Empire began to unravel.
Liverpool: The dock city which prospered under the British Imperialism, the end of it spelt the end of Liverpool’s glory, symbolised with the closing of Tate & Lyle, that great sugar refinery, because of the entrance of United Kingdom to European Economic Community flooded the sugar market with cheaper sugar beets.
All in all, I found the journey quite fascinating, the lesson learnt from this book would be, even the greatest Empire would fall. Despite the aura of permanence, nothing lasts forever, even British Empire.
October 6, 2018
An in-depth history of the British Empire through the rise and fall of its colonial cities, starting with pre-Revolutionary War Boston and wrapping with post-Empire Liverpool, this volume examines the process by which the British Empire grew, the anchors it required for its trade routes and politics, and the inevitable decline. At the beginning, Boston opens the ideas of transatlantic trade, of the vast wealth of raw resources in the Americas, Asia, and the Antipodes. Calcutta, Melbourne, Hong Kong all contribute to the progress of the Empire, at the cost of the native populations and the governments that were already in place in many of these locations. Empires are built of bone cemented with blood, and Hunt is unsparing in his reporting and assessment of the violence the British Empire has done to the world. In the end, Liverpool is portrayed as colonized in its own turn, bringing in China and India and their wealth and industry to revitalize a city left destitute by the collapse of British Imperial trade. The cycle turns, and the colonizer is itself colonized. Hunt makes considerable reference to primary sources, and provides an extensive bibliography, itself a resource for years of further study.
March 25, 2017
Unlike other books on the topic, Hunt has been able to avoid the temptation to extol the virtues of British Imperialism, or critique its many failings, and stick to three simple things; governance, architecture and city development. There are some tangents to be found, with discussion of wars or attempts to hold on to India, but only where it supports the main theme of how these ten cities, that played such a huge part in the British Empire, were founded, developed, built and governed.
Hunt goes to great lengths to explain why sites were chosen for certain cities, what the priorities of early settlers were and how the function of each imperial city dictated its development. The research has clearly been very thorough and Hunt's style of writing is enjoyable and never oppressive. On top of this, there are some great images and plates in the book (sadly not enough for my liking) that aid the narrative a great deal. Not your traditional history book but it should pleasantly surprise.
Hunt goes to great lengths to explain why sites were chosen for certain cities, what the priorities of early settlers were and how the function of each imperial city dictated its development. The research has clearly been very thorough and Hunt's style of writing is enjoyable and never oppressive. On top of this, there are some great images and plates in the book (sadly not enough for my liking) that aid the narrative a great deal. Not your traditional history book but it should pleasantly surprise.
October 18, 2017
This fascinating read offers a different way of looking at Colonialism and particularly British Imperialism by way of the English influence on the built environment. Many readers will find the politics and cultural histories familiar and unevenly treated but when those forces intersect with street design, warehouse locations, sanitary concerns and the development of ‘oh so’ British office spaces and church buildings the narrative – and it seems the author’s enthusiasm for it – really take off. This is a bit slow in many spots but it is well researched and offers, as I said, a different way of looking at the influence of British culture in the world and at a time when the sun never set on the British Empire.
July 22, 2021
The first chapters of this book aren't boasting with strength. In the introduction, you are unsure whether the author is preparing you for an unapologetic praise of colonialism for the next 400 pages. But, pleasantly, that really is not the case. As the book progresses, the author gives you a rich insight into the myriad of institutions that made up the colonial footprint. And in saying that, you can't help but feel by the end that Europeans should be made to feel hideously guilty for all their wealth. Approximately two thirds through the book I had a really enjoyable 'ahuh! moment', at which point I noted how well crafted the journey of the book had been. It really is a history of British Colonialism - good and bad - told through these ten cities.
October 25, 2018
Ten cities - each with their own role to play in the Empire. Tristram chooses a city at a particular time period and explains its importance to strategy of the British Empire, to secure its military; commercial interests. While he doesn't linger too long on each city, his analysis seems to be rather comprehensive - from sharing about the macroeconomic situation to even perhaps trivial information about the parades. Notably, the book ends of with the notion that Britain enjoyed the fruits of multiculturalism when it was ruling the Empire. But as its former colonies become more developed, power relations inevitably shift and Britain should not shy away too much from its multicultural roots.
July 26, 2017
A collection of stories about major British Empire launchpads - supporting the free trade agenda, promoting wealth for the citizens of the Empire while often down-pouring misery and death to the aboriginal population. Literacy and marvel for the civilisation came next, the baptising by death was a strenuous process.
The chapters are loosely based and the book is more about quick city bios that a web of spawning empire outpost network (so one should contextualise this info with other titles). A decent read.
The chapters are loosely based and the book is more about quick city bios that a web of spawning empire outpost network (so one should contextualise this info with other titles). A decent read.
July 26, 2020
Really enjoyed the format of this book, with reasonably detailed accounts of the development of old British cities throughout the empire, and some of the key events and characters who shaped these cities for what they are today. Although it's a fairly thick book, you move through each of the chapters quite quickly. There a loose chronological links between each city, but you can jump back and forth, particularly if the Indian cities become a bit repetitive. Would have been interesting to have a chapter on one of the Straits Settlements of Singapore, Penang or Malacca.
August 12, 2022
This book is fine for what it is. It's just a basic history of a bunch of different cities around the globe that were part of the British empire. So if you've ever wondered who founded Bridgetown, Barbados and how it was built up, this is the book for you. However, I was hoping the book would be about "the creation of the urban world," like the subtitle suggests. As a sociologist, I'm fascinated by how humans switch from rural to urban life, and the side-effects on society. This just wasn't what I was looking for.
June 11, 2018
Colonial history and urban fabric
This is a splendid account of 10 important colonial cities. It is much more than architectural history, although this is a key element. It is cultural, economic, social and colonial history. Tristam Hunt writes well and provides a multitude of valuable insights. The narrative finishes in Liverpool which is undergoing a renewal which ironically is putting its UNESCO status in jeopardy.
This is a splendid account of 10 important colonial cities. It is much more than architectural history, although this is a key element. It is cultural, economic, social and colonial history. Tristam Hunt writes well and provides a multitude of valuable insights. The narrative finishes in Liverpool which is undergoing a renewal which ironically is putting its UNESCO status in jeopardy.
April 3, 2022
A very interesting look at the history of the British empire, told via - you guessed it- ten different cities, from Boston to Bombay to Bridgetown. This approach- helped by the illustrations - brings each city to life and enables Hunt to tell a cohesive narrative of the empire without getting bogged down in the details. I personally would have liked a bit more about how the empire was dismantled in the post war years.
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